Vauxhall Astra vs Vauxhall Corsa

The Vauxhall Astra costs £2,490 more than the Vauxhall Corsa. For that premium it adds 60 miles more WLTP range and 85 litres more boot space. The Vauxhall Corsa is not just cheaper - it also offers a 1.1s quicker 0-62mph time. On EVcarsguide's combined category scores, the Vauxhall Astra comes out ahead overall.

The Vauxhall Corsa is £2,490 cheaper to buy. Running costs are almost identical - about £168 a year either way, at 8,000 miles on an off-peak home tariff. Add 5 years of charging and the Vauxhall Corsa comes out roughly £2,450 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 191 miles for the Vauxhall Astra and 149 miles for the Vauxhall Corsa - both below their WLTP figures, because sustained high speed is the hardest case for an EV. The Vauxhall Astra goes roughly 42 miles further between charging stops. Both rapid-charge to 80% in a similar time, around 26-30 minutes.

The Vauxhall Corsa is the easier car for tight UK car parks: it is 95 mm narrower than the Vauxhall Astra. In a standard 2,400 mm bay that leaves about 635 mm of total clearance for the Vauxhall Corsa and about 540 mm of total clearance for the Vauxhall Astra.

Over a 8-year ownership window EVcarsguide's degradation model projects roughly 84% battery health for the Vauxhall Astra and 84% for the Vauxhall Corsa. 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.