eCorsa vs Corsa Petrol

[JTCameron]

Morning all,

I really could do with some advice as my mind is a mess!

I currently have a 1.2 Turbo Elite Nav Premium 70 Reg Corsa. Nothing wrong with it and I love driving in it. However, I have always wanted an automatic car.

At the weekend I test drove an eCorsa Automatic Elite which I loved and found it much smoother to drive. It would cost about £140 a month more.

I currently do 40 miles a day in commuting so this wouldn't be an issue and I've got space for a PodPoint at home.

However, which car is better and is there any point in changing? I feel as if I'm just getting excited by the thought of a new car. Although, having a colour of my choice and it being automatic does appeal, along with the £50-£100 saving I'll make each month.

What do you all think? Anyone got an eCorsa after having a petrol? Am I really saving money? Is it too soon to go electric?

Any help or advice is appreciated!!

[RDarling]

I moved from a petrol Corsa to an SE NAV E-Corsa in September 2020.

Going from a two year HP to a 4 year finance plan gave a £75 monthly reduction, including some 6 months pay back on the HP.

I have been very meticulous in recording my car statistics (since 1966) and my last 1.4 Corsa cost an average of 15.3p per mile for petrol (March 2019 to September 2020).

Currently after 2000 miles in the e-Corsa electricity is costing an average of 7.45p per mile.

I do 70 mph on the dual carriageways and realise that that reduces the range on a full charge. A full charge at the weekend is showing a 122 mile range.

Of course electricity is due to increase dramatically, but petrol has also increased in price.

Lastly I was unable to install the PodPoint as I would have had to run the cable under the entire house as our drive is at the opposite side from the electricity fuseboard. I went for a 13A charger plugged in to the garage socket - which means that the car is in the garage when not in use.

Hope that helps?

[mattski]

If you have electricity in the garage check if your wiring is suitable for a charger installed from the garage fuse box.
Your costs would drop dramatically if you move onto ev night rate from let's say octopus at 7.5p (around 2p per mile)

Also driving 65 or even 60mph will save you decent amount of charge and you only gonna get to your destination few minutes later.

[RDarling]

The PodPoint survey engineer said the garage fuse box was not possible. It needed two cables from the main fuse box, one for power and the other to shut down the charger if the rest of the house was consuming a high power - to prevent the main fuse blowing.

I appreciate the drop in mph would be a saving, but I feel reducing speed on a dual carriageway as a hinderance to other road users.

I will look into an ev night rate though.

[JTCameron]

Thanks both for your replies! Really useful things to consider.

Is it worth me holding out until EVs take off more? I just don’t want to be paying more money than what I currently am with my current corsa or having a car that I’m going to struggle with.

As I say, it’s the exact same spec and model I have now. Just electric and automatic!! I did look at automatic and petrol but it was too expensive sadly

[RDarling]

I am very happy with mine, but we don't travel too far. The furthest we have done is a 52 mile return trip to the airport. A 76 mile trip to the dealers for its first service had a (free) charging session at the dealers before we returned!

The main points for me were: automatic (first time); SATNAV (first time); no road tax; quieter; and no visits to a petrol station.

And the mobile phone app allows me to get the car warm before getting into it!!

I have also said that the monthly payments were down, but spread over 4 years.

The insurance was a bit higher, but the annual rise also contributed to that.

[bladesman83]

The Corsa-e and ICE Corsa's are different cars entirely. I have the electric version and have driven the 1.2T and 1.2 as hire cars. The electric car is stiffer, lower, wider, denser and just generally more substantial. I wouldn't buy a non electric version of this car having driven both.