In a world where the Abarth 500e, Alpine A290 and upcoming Polo GTI are stealing headlines left, right and centre, it’s safe to say that the age of the all-electric hot hatch is well and truly upon us. 

After dipping its toes in the water with the Mokka GSE, Vauxhall is ready to properly throw its hat in the ring with the new Corsa GSE.

Vauxhall has been teasing us with this car for a while now. It was announced back in February 2026 and we saw it being tested at the Nürburgring in a camouflage livery. We've driven it but we're not allowed to tell you anything about that – ssh – but we can tell you everything else we know about the hot electric Corsa.

What's new on the outside?

At first glance the changes to the standard Corsa seem subtle. I quite liked that when I first went to have a look at the new GSE – it's a bit more tasteful than the boy racer aesthetic that's got boring. It's like the old VXRs have discovered a taste for red wine. It's not too brash, but there are hints to look for in an 'if you know you know' kind of way.

First up, the tweaked front and rear bumpers are more aggressive with a wider looking front grille, side intakes and blacked out elements for a mildly aggressive sporty look. 

Moving around to the side of the car, we get black wheel arch extensions to add width and new 18-inch alloys with a three-spoke design that evoke the Nova GTE of old. There are also bright yellow brake calipers peeking out from inside those wheels.

Up top, the Corsa GSE gets a black roof and a subtle but distinct rear wing to complete the souped up look. 

And in case you pull up next to one and still aren’t quite sure what you’re looking at, there are GSE badges dotted around the body, including a small one in the front grille and a decal on each front door.

And what about the interior?

On the inside, the changes are much less subtle. The first thing anybody will notice is the new seats. They’re aggressively bolstered and securely hug occupants, but I can sit in it comfortably at 6ft 3in, so I reckon they'll suit most sizes and shapes of driver. 

They also feature a split Alcantara and cloth design with a bright yellow chequered pattern that's another retro nod to the Nova. You've also got GSE logos and yellow stitching for a bit of fanciness. A similar, albeit less bucket-y design is carried over to the rear seats and all five pews come with matching bright yellow seatbelts.

The infotainment and dashboard displays have been upgraded to show such essential sporty information as g-force and other performance stats, but the rest of the dashboard is unchanged from the standard car, including the happy goat steering wheel that you can't unsee.

In a happy development, there's no practicality sacrificed at the altar of slightly perkier driving – you get the same 309 litres of boot space and the same room in the back seats.​

How fast is the new electric Corsa GSE? 

Looks are one thing, but the Corsa GSE needs the performance engineering to back them up. Headline figures are almost identical to the Mokka GSE, so you get 281hp and 345Nm of torque which pushes you to a top speed of 112mph. Being smaller and lighter than the Mokka, the GSE weighs in at 1,554kg and offers the quickest acceleration time of any current Vauxhall with a 0–62mph figure of 5.5 seconds.

That power is sent through a Torsen limited-slip differential to help you scrabble out of corners, and the GSE also benefits from a lowered ride height (24mm at the front and 11mm at the rear), wider track (54mm at the front, 20mm at the rear) and suspension upgrade (stiffer springs all round, new rear axle and better shock absorbers) over the standard model. The standard-fit Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tyres that have been developed especially for EVs will be a big help too. 

How does all that affect the range and charging?

The Corsa GSE gets the same 51kWh of usable battery capacity as the rest of the range, which means that range drops to 220 miles (from 246) with the Michelins fitted. There are optional Hankook performance tyres you can go for that add 12 miles of range for a 232-mile WLTP figure. 

Other EV essentials are carried over from the standard car with 100kW of rapid charging which gets you from 20–80% in 30 minutes or from 0–100% in an hour. There’s also 3.6kW vehicle-to-load (V2L) support.

How much will the new Vauxhall Corsa GSE cost?

You might have thought that this is where the bad news comes in, but actually the Corsa GSE is being offered at an entirely reasonable price and with a standard kit list that includes adaptive cruise control, Apple and Android connectivity, front and rear parking sensors plus rearview camera, keyless go and wireless phone charging. 

The current Corsa Electric range topper is the Ultimate model with 156hp that costs £33,720 (before you take off £1,500 for the Band 2 electric car grant, that is). The Corsa GSE is set to be priced at £34,495 (£32,995 with the grant) when it goes on sale in September with deliveries starting before the end of 2026.