They all share the same 50 kilowatt-hour battery the same electric motor and give or take will all do 300 kilometres on a charge but if they’re all so similar why should you pick the Mokka out of all it’s stablemates? Opel has done a good job of turning these familiar underpinnings into something that looks extremely distinctive, especially in Matcha Green. The Mokka’s got the brand’s new Vizor front end with a sharp set of daytime running lights and if you’re brave enough, an individual colour palette. The old Mokka sold over a million units in Europe so it’s a big car for Opel and like its cousins there are petrol and diesel versions. Every model comes with a 50 kilowatt-hour battery with a 134 BHP electric motor and an official range of 330 kilometres.
Special mention : The battery improves the dynamics, its very well suited to the Mokka. Decent battery range. Good visibility. Simple technology well laid out.
Needs work : Boot space could be bigger. Drivers seat rails pop up under your feet when the seat is pushed far back. Touch point materials could be nicer.
| BHP 136 | Electric / Auto |
| 0-100 km/h in 8.9 seconds | Road Tax €120 |
Price: €33,038.00 (Includes €5,000 SEAI grant) | Boot space 310 litres |
Inside the cabin the good news is it’s actually pretty nice. The front end treatment has been recreated with the pure panel display. It’s not as slick as the setup you’ll find in a Mercedes A-Class plug-in hybrid but it’s very simply laid out and easy to use. Pleasingly the controls for the climate control are physical rather than hidden away in the screen submenus.
The Mokka-e is offered in four trim levels with entry level SE nav premium cars getting 16” alloys, LED headlights a panoramic rear view camera and automatic emergency braking as standard. SRI nav premium brings a sportier look with black exterior detailing and 18” alloy wheels.
Elite nav premium cars get even more standard kit with highlights including adaptive cruise control, heated seats and 17” alloys. While top spec launch edition cars like this come as standard with leather upholstery and advanced parking assistance. All cars come with satnav, plus Apple Carplay and Android Auto but you’ll need to step up to at least the SRI to get the 10” screen in the middle and the 12” screen behind the steering wheel.
The screen itself is perhaps a little bit slow but there’s plenty of functionality and elsewhere quality is really very good which easily matches other small suvs in this segment. If you put a premium badge on the steering wheel many people will be none the wiser to this being an Opel when it comes to practicality.
The Mokka-e perfectly fulfills its brief as a more versatile version of the Corsa super mini. It will be infinitely more appealing to small families thanks to the boot that measures up to 350 litres which is smaller than the petrol Mokka’s but it’s bigger than the Corsa 267 litre load bay.
The sleek exterior profile does rob the Mokka-e of some outright carrying space though pleasingly there is some storage under the floor for the charging cables.
The space in the back has plenty of headroom, knee room isn’t all that generous and the middle seat is tight but there are a couple of usb slots to keep the kids entertained. While the old Mokka sold well despite its lackluster driving experience, this new one needs the dynamics to match its stylish appearance. Now you can think of its siblings having their own distinct personality so the Citroen is the comfortable one, the Peugeot the practical one and the DS is the luxury take on the formula.
This new Mokka-e manages to blend all three without actually really standing out, it’s not super soft and yet it’s not that sporty either. It’s perhaps not as fast as you might imagine either but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. It feels as if this new Mokka-e has been tuned to ease people’s transition between petrol and electric, it just feels really normal to drive, which is great. It’s pretty quiet and it’s refined apart from a little wind whistle around the a-pillars at motorway speeds and it rides well enough for a car of this type.
The Mokka-e gets the same charging capability as its Peugeot and Citroën siblings. If you manage to find a rapid charger, Opel says it will charge to 80% full in 30 minutes, it also has a relatively powerful 11 kilowatt onboard AC charger allowing for a five hour refill time at home. However most people will use a seven kilowatt wall box which will top up the car overnight in around seven hours. The Mokka-e only comes with a mode three cable for wall box charging though you’ll pay extra for a three pin plug. Handily Opel says it’s working on a range calculator for its website allowing potential customers to factor in things like weather temperature and other charging variables. We saw 300 kilometres from a full charge and Opel claims a standard fit heat pump should help the Mokka maintain a decent usable range whatever the conditions, so the 300 kilometres should be achievable even in winter.
The old Opel Mokka was successful in numbers and this new one is so much better especially with the Mokka’s all-electric powertrain it may not have a single usp but it’s pretty well packaged and it’s good to drive.