Vauxhall Mokka GSE review

From £25,740

The return of a true fast Vauxhall sub-brand… on an electric compact crossover

There’s a bit about the new Vauxhall Mokka GSE that feels refreshingly old-school.

There are lots of ‘hot variant’ things to say about this GSE (standing for Grand Sport Electric, this is an initialism that Opel has used before and is a mash-up of the old GSi and GTE badges previously applied to hot Vauxhalls).

And GSE is very much going to be a true performance sub-brand, they say, like VXR, GSi, GTE and others before it (Vauxhall has had a few). There is an Astra GSE already, but that’s basically a trim level. This is a performance statement.

The Mokka GSE, then, is a 277bhp performance version of the Mokka Electric, a tall hatchback thing, and a relatively compact one, at 4.15m long. As I write, it's priced at £35,495 (including the UK's Electric Car Grant).

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DESIGN & STYLING

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The Mokka GSE is your regular electric Mokka given a makeover, although more for handling than being strictly about appearance.

On the outside there are new bumpers and grilles and some yellow flashes and lettering. There’s a standard black roof (a no-cost option to delete) and an optional black bonnet, like on old Opel and Vauxhall rally cars, for £250. 

Necessity dictated that there were new front strut knuckles, but pleasingly they're also lighter than the standard ones.
Matt Prior
Editor-at-large

The significant changes are under the skin. Front-wheel drive, the GSE runs on new 20in alloys and 10mm-lower suspension than the standard Mokka. Spring rates are up 49% front and 35% rear; there’s a Torsen locking front differential (with 36% lock-up under acceleration and 34% under braking); and there's a new 30.8mm anti-roll bar for the torsion-beam rear suspension, increasing rear roll stiffness by 189% and, combined with the front stiffening, increasing overall roll stiffness by 48%.

There are new knuckles on the MacPherson strut front suspension too, albeit not like those ‘Hiperstrut’ ones the old Astra VXR had to reduce torque steer. They’re just designed to be a bit lighter and create enough space for the big wheels to clear the lowered body, while increasing Ackermann angle and letting the wheels turn far enough to retain a 10.41m turning circle.

Gosh, all this suspension nerd talk: it’s like 2005 all over again.

There’s more. The steering rack is new and has a 14.5:1 ratio, increased from 16.2:1 on the standard Mokka. Steering is 2.7 turns between locks. Braking is by 380mm ventilated front discs (and 268mm rear discs) and, if you drive in the sportiest of three drive modes, it does no regenerative braking, to improve brake pedal feel – a trait it shares with the Lotus Evija hypercar. Tyres are 225/40 Michelin Pilot Sport EVs, with Goodyear Eagle F1s a £100 option. They extend the WLTP range from 201 to 209 miles… and we’re back in 2025.

There are a couple of other EV numbers to knock off too: the battery is 54kWh (gross) and can charge at a rate of 100kW. 

INTERIOR

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Inside the Mokka GSE, there are sports seats, Alcantara door cards, a heavily flattened steering wheel and yellow stitching. That’s enough to lift its ambience over the standard car, in relatively straightforward hot-version fashion. These tricks have been used on hot hatches since hot hatches were invented.

For me, the new seats are a particular highlight, offering excellent lateral support without being too heavily bolstered, so I think you will be comfortable and snug whatever your size.

Touchscreen controls abound, of course, but real buttons remain for the heating and ventilation.
Matt Prior
Editor-at-large

I prefer a round steering wheel but this one is thin of rim, which is pleasing.

And the rest of the accommodation is standard Mokka stuff. There’s adequate rear seat room – head room good, leg room fine – but a below-average boot for the class. If indeed there is ‘a class’ for a really unusual kind of car.

ENGINES & PERFORMANCE

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We will touch on this and the straight-line performance of the Mokka GSE here but make most of the driving impressions in the next section, because what happens under acceleration and braking is intrinsically linked to this car’s fun-to-drive character.

With 277bhp, it is of course quick in a straight line, despite the 1596kg kerb weight – relatively heavy for a car of this size, albeit not necessarily for an EV. It’s good for a 0-62mph dash of 5.9sec, they say, which feels totally believable to me.

There are Eco, Normal and Sport drive modes. Eco is treacly but throttle response is great in either Normal or Sport.
Matt Prior
Editor-at-large

The throttle mapping and delivery smoothness are both very good, as you might expect from a single-motor electric drivetrain, with a bit of excess tyre noise here and there – as might also be allowable, given this car’s 20in wheels and its performance intent.

RIDE & HANDLING

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The Mokka has a extremely good chassis – one that’s superbly well-controlled and allows a modest amount of roll to lean against but which, once settled into a corner, is fairly unflappable.

The steering is medium-heavy weighted and very incisive. There’s road feel, too, with some actual old-school torque-steering nibbles at the wheel when the differential hooks up on the way out of corners.

I haven't yet driven the Abarth 600e or Alfa Romeo Junior Elettrica Veloce, both of which are related to this, but I hear good things about both of them too.
Matt Prior
Editor-at-large

On circuit, if you give the Mokka a large bung, it will even try move around. Just a bit – not to old fast Ford or Renaultsport levels of agility.

I’d want to try it again in the UK (the ride seems fine but the roads around Madrid were good), but I think it might be the most engaging driver’s EV at this price. I did not expect that. And I liked it.

Braking feel is fine in the Normal and Eco drive modes but takes on a firmer, reliable response in Sport mode.

MPG & RUNNING COSTS

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The official range of the Mokka GSE may be 201 miles, but drive it hard in Sport mode and you will reduce that range to more like 150 miles. In mixed driving but with a lot of mountain roads and in good weather, I saw 170.

Its current price (November 2025) of £35,495 includes the present Electric Car Grant. That may change, but for now all electric Vauxhalls are eligible for the full grant and are beneath the 'luxury car tax' bracket.

Rapid charging at 100kW might not sound like loads but practically is usually enough.
Matt Prior
Editor-at-large

And if you buy an electric Vauxhall, they will give you 50,000 Tesco Clubcard points. Not a thrilling incentive, perhaps, but a sensible one.

VERDICT

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Vauxhall is really keen to link this new hot derivative to its performance cars of old. It feels relatively unusual, in a world where manufacturers are launching new EV branding and badging, to instead pull on older fast-car heartstrings. I wonder who remembers or cares – but I suppose if you have it, use it.

Weird car, though. The Mokka is not the natural car to make a sports hatch from, let alone one to launch a new performance brand. But they did sell a Zafira VXR, so it’s not the first time an unlikely Vauxhall has had a performance derivative. I don’t know which helps less here: the fact that this is a compact crossover, that it’s not hugely exciting to look at  or that it’s grey, but I wonder if your first impression was, like mine, a little ho-hum; to assume it won’t have very much about it. That, it turns out, would be a mistake. There’s a fine-handling car in here.

Now, where’s the lighter, bolder, Corsa equivalent?
Matt Prior
Editor-at-large

Matt Prior

Matt Prior
Title: Editor-at-large

Matt is Autocar’s lead features writer and presenter, is the main face of Autocar’s YouTube channel, presents the My Week In Cars podcast and has written his weekly column, Tester’s Notes, since 2013.

Matt is an automotive engineer who has been writing and talking about cars since 1997. He joined Autocar in 2005 as deputy road test editor, prior to which he was road test editor and world rally editor for Channel 4’s automotive website, 4Car. 

Into all things engineering and automotive from any era, Matt is as comfortable regularly contributing to sibling titles Move Electric and Classic & Sports Car as he is writing for Autocar. He has a racing licence, and some malfunctioning classic cars and motorbikes.