BMW i3s vs Vauxhall Corsa-e

The BMW i3s costs £7,680 more than the Vauxhall Corsa-e. For that premium it adds 35 kW more power and a 1.2s quicker 0-62mph time. The Vauxhall Corsa-e is not just cheaper - it also offers 32 miles more WLTP range, 50 kW faster peak rapid charging and 1 more seat (5 versus 4). On EVcarsguide's combined category scores, the Vauxhall Corsa-e comes out ahead overall.

The Vauxhall Corsa-e is £7,680 cheaper to buy. Running costs are almost identical - about £160 a year either way, at 8,000 miles on an off-peak home tariff. Add 5 years of charging and the Vauxhall Corsa-e comes out roughly £7,800 cheaper overall. These figures cover list price and home charging only - insurance, servicing, tyres and depreciation will move the real total.

EVcarsguide estimates a real-world motorway range of about 118 miles for the BMW i3s and 174 miles for the Vauxhall Corsa-e - both below their WLTP figures, because sustained high speed is the hardest case for an EV. The Vauxhall Corsa-e goes roughly 56 miles further between charging stops. A rapid charge to 80% takes around 42 minutes in the BMW i3s and 30 in the Vauxhall Corsa-e, so the Vauxhall Corsa-e loses less time at each stop. That makes the Vauxhall Corsa-e the stronger long-distance car.

The two are within 26 mm on width, so neither is meaningfully easier to thread into a tight space. In a standard 2,400 mm bay that leaves about 635 mm of total clearance for the Vauxhall Corsa-e and about 609 mm of total clearance for the BMW i3s. The BMW i3s also turns in a 0.9 m tighter circle, which helps with U-turns and multi-storey ramps.

Over a 8-year ownership window EVcarsguide's degradation model projects roughly 84% battery health for the BMW i3s and 84% for the Vauxhall Corsa-e. That is close enough that capacity loss should not decide between them. Both use NMC-type cells, so for daily use keep the charge limit near 80% to slow degradation. Both batteries carry a 8-year manufacturer warranty.