Latest news with #MokkaElectric
Business Mayor
11-05-2025
- Automotive
- Business Mayor
Car Deal of the Day: Vauxhall Mokka Electric Ultimate is a well-equipped EV for £196 a month
Inside you'll find a pair of 10-inch displays on the dash, heated front seats in some rather snazzy suede upholstery, and even a massage function for the driver. Also included is a heated steering wheel, built-in sat-nav, a wireless charging pad, keyless entry, a panoramic rear view camera and adaptive cruise control. While this is the Ultimate trim, it's not the ultimate Mokka Electric, because you have to make do with the smaller 50kWh battery. But that's not a problem, as there's still a maximum range of 209 miles – easily enough for most. Plus, thanks to 100kW charging speeds, a zero to 80 per cent top-up takes half an hour. There's adequate power, too, as the Mokka Electric comes with a 154bhp electric motor (replacing the pre-2024 model's 134bhp unit). It's nippy off the line thanks to its immediate torque, and a 0-62mph sprint time of nine seconds is nothing to be sniffed at. The Car Deal of the Day selections we make are taken from our own Auto Express Find A Car deals service, which includes the best current offers from car dealers and leasing companies around the UK. Terms and conditions apply, while prices and offers are subject to change and limited availability. If this deal expires, you can find more top Vauxhall Mokka leasing offers from leading providers on our Vauxhall Mokka Electric hub page. Check out the Vauxhall Mokka deal or take a look at our previous Car Deal of the Day selection here … READ SOURCE
Daily Mail
02-05-2025
- Automotive
- Daily Mail
RAY MASSEY: Vauxhall's new Mokka serves up a tasty treat
As the May bank holiday gets underway, you may be sitting down to a relaxing spring breakfast with a fresh orange juice and a cappuccino. Me? I've been enjoying a Mokka – the striking Vauxhall car which takes its name from a mocha coffee. Like the drink, this car gives you a perky lift. In fact, so attached is Vauxhall to the caffeine association that last year it created a one-off Mokka Coffee-E electric car, providing coffee on the move with a coffee bar in the boot that housed two machines and barista-quality tools. The Mokka comes in three trim levels, Design, GS and Ultimate, and in a range of engines: petrol (130 and 136hp), hybrid and a battery-powered zero-emissions 156hp Mokka Electric. I drove the 136hp GS Hybrid model, which pairs a three-cylinder petrol engine with an electric motor. It has an electrified automatic dual-clutch six-speed gearbox. Prices start from £29,605 (which includes £700 extra for gloss metallic paint). With 18 in wheels it's a great drive and accelerates to 60mph in a decent 8.2 seconds, up to a top speed of 129mph. It also promises good fuel economy of up to 58.9mpg, with CO2 emissions of 110g/km. There are three drive modes – eco, normal and sport – and the latter makes for the most engaging driving. My lively car was pretty well-stocked, including hill start assist, electronic climate control and a panoramic rear-view camera. But it still needs a physical key to fire up the car. My only real gripe – and it's a personal one – was the lack of in-built sat-nav on my model. It's available only on the higher spec Ultimate trim version. Otherwise you have to hook up your smartphone to services such as Google Maps or Waze. Second nature to many, I'm sure, but for me it's just too much faff. With 18 in wheels it's a great drive and accelerates to 60mph in a decent 8.2 seconds I resorted to a good old-fashioned road atlas. This may spark debate, but my preference is generational, and I know many older drivers who feel the same way. To be fair, Vauxhall is simply following a trend pursued by many car-makers on their smaller and cheaper models: your smartphone becomes your mobile 'brain' – a real computer on wheels. Overall about 70 per cent of all Vauxhall car sales have sat-nav fitted as standard. How many younger drivers of the TikTok generation have used an atlas? Not many, I suspect. But wait for the next big powercut – as suffered this week across Spain and Portugal – and then we'll see where over-reliance on digital technology gets us. Unless, of course – like me – you always keep a road atlas handy. Double celebration for Rolls-Royce Rolls-Royce is in the middle of a double celebration week, with it having a special anniversary either side of today. Tomorrow is the 121st year since Henry Royce met Charles Rolls, and yesterday was the centenary of its flagship model, the iconic Phantom. John Lennon famously painted his own in psychedelic hues. Rolls-Royce Motor Cars chief Chris Brownridge said: 'Phantom is much more than a motor car. It is a cultural phenomenon, both reflecting and influencing the world around it.' Rolls-Royce has planned a series of events and unveilings throughout 2025.
Yahoo
25-03-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Vauxhall Mokka
As we know, jacked-up superminis like the Vauxhall Mokka can fly off the shelves. The Ford Puma is no stranger to the UK's best-sellers chart and Vauxhall showrooms have managed to shift Mokkas aplenty since the current iteration went on sale in 2021. It's clearly succeeding in its statement to flex some design muscle and invite people to consider a Vauxhall who might never have before, then. But now that it's been on sale for a number of years, Vauxhall has given it a facelift, albeit a minor one, to keep it competitive. Specifically, there have been some trim-level revisions, the exterior and interior have received new design touches, the damping and steering have been slightly tweaked, and the Mokka Electric, for which we have a separate review, gets a bigger, 54kWh battery as standard. With that in mind, how does it stack up against a pool of small SUV rivals that includes the Ford Puma, Renault Captur, Skoda Kamiq, Nissan Juke and Hyundai Kona? Let's find out. The engine line-up is fairly simple and largely unchanged from before. You can have a 134bhp 1.2-litre turbo three-pot mated to either a six-speed manual or eight-speed auto, although with the auto it produces 128bhp. There's also a 134bhp hybrid with a six-speed dual-clutch 'box only, as well as the Mokka Electric. The 98bhp version of the 1.2 turbo petrol has been dropped. Each trim level, whether Design, GS or Ultimate, can be had with any powertrain you like. Every car gets LED lights, rear parking sensors, Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, a 10in infotainment screen and a 10in instrument binnacle. GS trim adds a rear-view camera, more adjustment for the driver's seat, 18in alloys and tinted glass, while top-spec Ultimate gets a heated steering wheel, heated front seats, lumbar support and massage seats. Prices start at just under £26,000, which is about average for the class: a Ford Puma is just over £26,000 while the Peugeot 2008 is closer to £30,000 and the Volkswagen T-Cross just under £25,000. Just like the current Vauxhall Corsa, the Mokka uses the Stellantis group's Common Modular Platform (CMP) as its mechanical basis. But as it's a compact SUV rather than a conventional supermini, one of its closest relations is the DS 3 Crossback (with which it shares a production line in Poissy, France – although the Peugeot 2008 is also a pretty close sibling). The new Mokka is 4151mm long, 1791mm wide and 1534mm tall, which makes it one of the smaller cars in its class, with the Puma, Captur and Kamiq being slightly larger in all dimensions. Much of the Mokka's styling has been derived from the firm's pillarless GT X Experimental concept car of 2018, and with this facelift you get some redesigned lights, fresh alloy wheel styles and, for sustainability reasons, the deletion of chrome trim. Talking of sustainability, the Mokka's interior - where most of the money seems to have been spent - now contains hardy fabrics made from recycled plastics, alongside updated software for the infotainment system and a new steering wheel with the same design as that in the new Grandland and Frontera. Having first lifted your feet over the car's trip hazard of a sill, you settle into a medium-high-set seat, notice the good visibility to all quarters and sense that you are treated to a fairly adjustable and well-supported driver's seat. Atop the dashboard sits some soft-touch, hard-wearing materials, there is some plush-feeling textile upholstery on the seats and it's generally a nice place to sit. We do have one gripe, though: Vauxhall's colour and trim department didn't harness the potential of the other materials used on the dashboard to liven the cabin up. The sea of grey, textured surfaces is a bit too deep for our liking. Vauxhall's Pure Panel infotainment display now runs updated software. This integrated-looking duo of digital infotainment and instrumentation screens sweeps across behind the steering wheel and into the upper centre stack. It is Vauxhall's attempt to notionally claim it as its own design convention despite it now becoming commonplace across the industry. The thinking is that by surrounding both configurations in gloss black plastic, both better fit into the cabin architecture around them; and perhaps they do, although if you don't like cars with lots of gloss black plastic, you're unlikely to take to it. Fans of tech will appreciate that the displays are bigger than they once were. Whereas before the standard screen was 8in, this time you get a pair of 10.0in screens, and there's a new-look digital instrument binnacle along with some crisper graphics for the infotainment thanks to the software update. Generally, it's a pretty intuitive interior to work with, not least because there are shortcut buttons to the home screen and - praise be - physical rotary dials for the HVAC system. That being said, the infotainment menus and digital instrument display lack some configurability. In terms of space, there's plenty of it up front for you and a passenger. At the rear, you've got a generous amount of rear head room, although rear passengers with longer legs may struggle behind a driver who's over 6ft tall. What's more, adults sitting in the back might be disappointed by the available oddment storage and the lack of a fold-down armrest. The 350-litre boot is unremarkable for the class, with the Puma managing 457 litres, the T-Cross 455 litres and the Captur 444 litres. The driving position is okay, although we would like to see some more reach in the steering column, and the standard seats don't have much under-thigh support. Upgrading to top-spec Ultimate trim will grant you some adjustability here. With an easy-to-use automatic gearbox, the Mokka is equipped to suit a good proportion of its general target audience. Thus configured, it performs adequately, although a more interested driver might still look for a little more power or driver engagement. For the latter, we would point you in the direction of a car fitted with the six-speed manual, which is a pretty natural-feeling 'box to use although the gearchange has a rather long and vague throw. The pure-petrol provides a decent blend of performance, refinement and efficiency. At 1220kg, the Mokka is relatively light, so with 134bhp and 169lb ft, it feels punchy enough for most situations. We do have a couple of gripes, though. Below 1500rpm, the engine emits a subdued but noticeable droning noise and you need to keep it over 2000rpm to make any real progress, despite it developing a fulsome-sounding 169lb ft of torque. It's an engine that you'll need to work hard when getting up to motorway speed and overtaking on A-roads. It feels strong enough when doing so, but not particularly assured or potent. The rest of the time, particularly around town, there's more than enough urge on tap, but with rivals offering more power and torque, we can probably mark down out-of-town authoritativeness as one of the Mokka's slight vulnerabilities. Being a bit slow to downshift and then reluctant to grab the next gear under acceleration, the automatic gearbox has the effect of sapping the car's responsiveness and overall performance level just a little. You can initially select gears for yourself using the manual mode and shift paddles but, with no kickdown switch on the accelerator pedal, you never feel as though you're in total control of the transmission, which often downshifts of its own accord even in manual mode when you get to the bottom of the throttle pedal's travel. The fine-tuning of the car's drivability is broadly inoffensive, but it lacks a little attention to detail. Vauxhall has chosen to position the brake pedal a bit higher and prouder than the accelerator so that when you're holding the car stationary on the brake, you can simply slide your foot directly off to the right and immediately onto the throttle to move off. That's fine, but it encourages you to hold the car on the brake pedal at traffic lights and junctions (which, some would say, is a bad habit) and it also means you have to lift your foot up to get it back onto the brake, which is a bit awkward. Compounding that awkwardness somewhat is a transmission that's very keen to creep forward in heavy traffic and a brake pedal with a mushy-feeling, poorly defined bite point. Conniving together, they make this car harder to drive at manoeuvring speeds than it need be – but it's only mildly irksome at worst. Vauxhall saw fit to treat the Mokka to a damping and steering recalibration for this generation, aiming to make the car more comfortable and responsive. There was an intention then, quite plainly, to make it at least a little bit more fun to drive than before. It stands out from its competitors by way of looks, after all, so why not? The slightly firmer-than-class-average suspension rates are still present and correct, presumably attempting to conjure just the merest hint of tenacity and roll resistance in its handling, for your driving pleasure. Unfortunately, and for a few reasons, it hasn't quite delivered the fully resolved, gently amusing and engaging drive that it might have been aiming for. Neither has the damping tune given the Mokka what you might consider a Vauxhall-typical sense of pliancy or everyday dynamic versatility. That the Mokka's steering is particularly light and anodyne at low speeds may make it easy to park and well suited to the typical compact crossover customer, but it's no great invitation to enjoyment. It actually weights up quite a lot as your speed increases, and so the car generally follows the path you've chosen for it obediently enough around town, and has reasonable stability on A-roads and motorways, being more easy to place precisely than you'd first believed it might be. But the car never quite feels even moderately agile or keen underneath you. Handling response and cornering balance are respectable if underwhelming, with the always-on electronics activating early (although progressively) to counteract understeer before it can build if you go at a bend with any vigour. This may be fair enough, because Mokka owners probably won't do that. But instead of giving the car good close body control and the pleasing sense of energy and poise at speed of something like a Ford Puma, the Vauxhall's particular suspension tuning often just makes it feel reactive and tetchy when roused. Firmer than average springs and dampers cause the ride to feel a little wooden and under-isolated over sharper inputs, while the lack of rebound control sometimes makes the car threaten to leap out of dips and off the top of fairly gentle crests and transverse ridges. Head toss, although not severe, is a regular factor on uneven surfaces as well. All of this combines to make the Mokka far from the most settled-riding car in its class. It isn't drastically uncomfortable, and you might not take much notice around town if the roads are smooth, but on imperfect roads you don't need to take an interest in the driving experience to be aware of the repetitive disturbance to the general calm of the cabin. You'll also notice that there's a fair amount of road surface noise admitted over coarser Tarmac and some wind flutter from around the top of the door seals. Overall, you still might not consider this an unrefined car in the strictest sense, but with sportier versions on larger alloy wheels only likely to penalise ride isolation, the Mokka could certainly do more on this score in order to justify its modest price premium. Every Mokka gets a crash mitigation and avoidance system operating at low speeds and a lane-keeping system as standard. Plump for a mid-spec model and those are upgraded, the former system operating throughout the whole speed range, and the latter including a switchable Lane Positioning Assistant (albeit only for cars with auto gearboxes). There's also a speed limit recognition system, which rarely misses a posted limit. The lane keeping system defaults to 'on', but there's a button to disable it simply and easily. It's a pretty discreet one, and unless you're on a winding road, you may not notice it even when it's operating. The more interventionist Lane Positioning Assistant is activated separately. It requires only a dead hand on the steering wheel to automatically maintain the car's position within its motorway lane. The Mokka starts from just under £26,000 for an entry-level car with a manual gearbox, making it a little more expensive than the Jeep Avenger and Citroën C4, but less than the Ford Puma. Drivers have three specification levels to choose from: Design, GS and Ultimate. The price difference between the entry-level car and the top-spec model is around £3000. While entry-level cars offer decent value, the costs can quickly rise above similarly specified rivals as you move up through the higher trim levels. Each car provide an acceptable level of economy on the road. The 136bhp petrol returns claimed economy of 49.6mpg, with the less powerful 128bhp unit achieving a claimed 46.3mpg, and the hybrid can hit 57.6mpg. We found these economy figures to be largely achievable with some careful driving, but a long-term test of the 136bhp petrol with a six-speed manual returned an average of 46.2mpg. The Vauxhall Mokka is a car that does many things credibly, but nothing exceptionally. It looks a little bit smarter, its interior technology is now in line with the rest of its maker's range and it has gained the added benefit of some sustainable materials inside and out. What's more, its engines are just about potent enough and it feels sufficiently competent to drive. Nevertheless, it is a little lacking in the more measurable on-paper strengths that might have elevated it into the compact SUV top five. It isn't the most practical car in its class. It doesn't threaten the plusher operators for upmarket ambience or material quality, either. Neither is it sufficiently refined, polished, energetic or engaging to drive to really distinguish itself dynamically. But we suspect none of that will prevent it from selling. In fact, if the looks are what you came for, the Mokka's drive should be good enough not to sour the ownership experience. ]]>
Yahoo
19-03-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Vauxhall Mokka Electric
The Vauxhall Mokka Electric takes the traditional crossover recipe and tries to meld it into something truly desirable and appealing. A funky, futuristic design and a stylish-looking interior made this car both modern and appealing to prospective buyers, and it still looks the part despite first going on sale back in 2019. Indeed, Vauxhall seems to have struck a chord with customers. Dealers have shifted nearly 100,000 examples of the second-generation Mokka, despite it finding itself in a fiercely contested market segment. The Hyundai Kona Electric, Volkswagen ID 3, Ford Puma Gen-E and Renault 4 all want a seat at the table too, but a series of technological and drivability enhancements promises to continue the Mokka's appeal and competitiveness. The standard version is now fitted with the same 54kWh battery as the old Long Range version, plus it has been given a comfort-focused damping retune, reworked steering and the same styling revisions inside and out as the ICE Mokka. Read on, then, to find out if a minor update can continue this crossover's appeal against an ever-increasing, ever-more competitive pool of rivals. There are three trim levels available: Design, GS and Ultimate. Entry-level cars have pretty much all the kit you need, with a 10in infotainment touchscreen and digital instrumentation display, Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, rear parking sensors, LED lights and 17in alloy wheels. GS trim adds a rear-view camera, more adjustment for the driver's seat, 18in alloys and tinted glass. Ultimate adds additional comfort-based trinkets, such as a heated steering wheel, heated front seats, lumbar support and massage seats. Design starts at around £32,500, while GS costs about £2000 more and Ultimate just over £37,000. As standard, you now get the bigger 54kWh battery pack from the old Long Range car. In combination with improved energy efficiency, that results in a claimed 20% range increase over the old 50kWh Mokka Electric, to 252 miles. It has a good maximum charging speed of 100kW, meaning a top up from 20% to 80% takes 27 minutes. That's better than Renault 4 (80kW). Its front-mounted electric motor produces 154bhp and 191lb ft of torque, which is good for a 0-62mph of 9.0sec and a top speed of 93mph. The Mokka Electric looks much the same as the ICE Mokka, which is no bad thing. Much of its styling was inspired by Vauxhall's GTX Experimental concept car of 2018, and since then it has received some redesigned headlights, new alloy designs and a fresh choice of paint colours to keep buyers interested. Overall, it's one of the more handsome cars to use this platform and it is one that will likely hold its own against the Renault 4. Measuring 4151mm long, 1791mm wide and 1534mm tall, it's slightly shorter, narrower and lower than the Puma Gen-E and Kia Niro EV. It feels as though it takes up less space on the road than those vehicles, which bodes well for town driving. It uses Stellantis's familiar e-Common Modular Platform (or e-CMP) as its mechanical basis, with the 54kWh battery pack sitting under the floor and the electric motor on the front axle. All versions have strut-type front suspension, a torsion-beam rear axle and front-wheel drive. The Mokka's cockpit is clearly style-oriented, with swooping, textured surfaces, Vauxhall's large PurePanel display (now incorporating two 10in screens), a new steering wheel and new-look dials for the instrument panel. In spite of having two large screens, this is a pretty intuitive space to interact with. There are physical buttons for all secondary controls like the heating, air conditioning and ADAS menus, as well as a clear and reasonably responsive touchscreen (even if its menus don't have very much configurability) and controls that are reassuringly solid. You can tell money has been spent on ergonomics. The driving position offers good visibility and the driver's seat is configurable enough for most people, however we would like to see more adjustment in the steering wheel. The touchscreen has had a software update over the previous car to make the graphics sharper and more responsive. On the whole, it hits the mark, with logical menu structures and Bluetooth that sustains a reliable connection to your phone. The way the interior looks won't be to everybody's tastes, however: there's a lot of glossy black plastic surrounding the screens, which can get covered in fingerprints quickly. Sadly, practicality takes a bit of a hit with electric treatment. You get a notably smaller boot over the ICE Mokka, at 310 litres compared to 350 litres, and the higher floor line means there is no room for rear passengers to stretch their feet out under the seat in front of them. Leg room and head room are still generous, however. We have a couple of other gripes. Perceived material quality is, considering the Mokka Electric's list price, not quite there. The scratchy, unattractive plastics in most places combine with indicator/wiper stalks that feel undamped and make the interior feel more suited to a price tag of about £25,000, not £32,000. We also feel the designers could have used this facelift to make better use of colour, whether that be a splash of red on the air vent or even lurid pink stitching on the carpets – anything to punctuate the unremitting, pervading sea of grey. Also, this may have been specific to our test car, but there was a constant rattling from a piece of trim somewhere and a whistling noise at 70mph. Not what you expect from something at this price point. For the market at which the Mokka Electric is aimed, the amount of performance that it delivers is more than enough A 0-62mph time of 9.0sec and a top speed of 93mph might sound underwhelming compared with some EVs, but it's delivered with a measure of linearity and smoothness that makes it seem as though there's more punch than that. Vauxhall claims the motor has been reconfigured for quieter running while delivering more power, with 154bhp and 192lb ft. Perhaps more relevant is the way it delivers this performance: the torque is evenly metered out and you're never left wanting for a greater turn of speed. The smooth, assured delivery of power makes it a more natural fit for town/city driving than the ICE Mokka. It helps too that the traction control system is more than sophisticated enough to handle the powertrain - something that can't be said for some of its Chinese rivals (think BYD and Skywell). Even on a wet surface, the wheels rarely scrabble under acceleration. Something to further aid your confidence when driving is the fact that the brakes are strong when you need them to be and they successfully blend themselves with the regen system without feeling unnatural. That being said, the pedal itself is mounted a bit too high and lacks any sort of feel through the first few inches of travel. There are three driving modes available via a toggle on the centre console: Eco, Normal, and Sport, plus a 'B' mode that ramps up the regen system to maximum attack. It's a shame you can't configure the amount of regen you get, because some might find 'B' mode to be too strong. Sport is best left alone simply because it adds nothing relevant to the driving experience. Vauxhall claims it has retuned the suspension and steering for this facelifted Mokka Electric. The former has been set up to better isolate you from lumpy British roads and the latter has been recalibrated for greater precision. Unfortunately, the suspension tune doesn't stop it from lolloping and jolting around on uneven surfaces. This is a complaint familiar to us from the previous car, with firmer-than-average spring rates making you feel almost every imperfection through the seat base, no matter which drive mode you've selected. Because of this, you get the sense that Vauxhall has set the car up to be at least a little bit fun to drive. The problem with this is that it doesn't deliver on that brief, and because of the firmer suspension rates, nor does it deliver on comfort. The Citroën ë-C4 (which uses very similar underpinnings) is significantly more comfortable and supple. It helps that the ride on roads with long-wave undulations (such as a motorway or A-road) is reasonably settled, almost as though the dampers write checks the springs can't cash. This, combined with the powertrain's agreeable urban manners would make it a natural choice for city drivers, but the overall ride quality lets it down. The steering is typically light, which makes it easy to thread around town and negotiate tight parking spaces, especially because the turning circle is quite tight, but light steering isn't exactly synonymous with driver involvement. Sport mode adds weight to the rack but it still feels numb, almost leaving you to guess the levels of grip and therefore how much lock you need for a given corner. The fact its outright response to your inputs is only adequate, not immediate, quickly becomes apparent. The Mokka Electric claims to deliver efficiency of 4.0mpkWh on the WLTP cycle, which is below average for the class, with the ID 3 Pro S achieving 4.2mpkWh, the Kona Electric 4.8mpkWh and the Puma Gen-E 4.7mpkWh. At least it shouldn't be too difficult to achieve the claimed figure: during our time with it, we averaged 3.9mpkWh, which equates to a real-world range of 210 miles. A starting price of around £32,500 is a few thousand more than each of those cars and the similarly conceived ë-C4. One of the few cars it achieves price parity with is the Peugeot e-2008. Vauxhall provides a battery warranty for eight-years or 100,000 miles as standard. It's a credit to the Mokka Electric that it only needs a subtle technical and facial revision to continue looking modern and interesting among a sea of rivals. Its eye-catching design is exactly what some customers will be looking for in this market segment, and it achieves these looks without compromising practicality too much. It has been given a healthy dose of power, too, without being intimidating to drive. Its powertrain is smooth, quiet and touts efficiency figures that shouldn't be too difficult to match in the real world, even if said efficiency figures aren't competitive. It's also far from the most comfortable-riding or engaging car in its class, despite Vauxhall's claimed suspension and steering recalibrations to achieve such traits, and its interior wants for material quality and some visual attractiveness, to say nothing of the reduction in boot space over the ICE Mokka. That being said, we applaud Vauxhall's decision to stick with physical controls for key functions and hope that it will continue. But if you need a practical, efficient electric car that looks interesting and will be as good in town as it is on the open road, we would recommend trying out the Kona Electric or ë-C4 first. ]]>
