German marque Opel has unveiled its first electric hot hatch, the Corsa GSE, which it says is a spiritual successor to the Corsa GSi.
The second-generation Corsa GSi was sold here as the Holden Barina GSi between 1994 and 1999, with the third-generation GSi sold here as the Barina SRi from 2001 to 2005.
The electric hot hatch wears Opel’s GSE badge, which originally stood for ‘Grand Sport Einspritzung’ (German for ‘injection’) on the brand’s fuel-injected performance models of the 1970s. Now, the automaker says the GSE nomenclature stands for ‘Grand Sport Electric’.
Its electric powertrain delivers 207kW of power and 345Nm of torque through the front wheels for a claimed 0-100km/h sprint time of 5.5 seconds – compared to the 9.0-second claim of the 1994 Holden Barina GSi it channels, and quicker than the 5.7-litre V8 HSV GTS launched the same year.
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Full details of the new electric hatchback have not yet been revealed, nor has pricing, though it’s certain to cost more than the $23,310 before on-road costs Holden charged for the Barina GSi 32 years ago – considered expensive at the time.
The new hero model won’t make it to Australia, with the Opel brand last sold here in 2013. More recently, the brand returned to the New Zealand market in 2022, before its distributor announced earlier this year it was pulling the plug.
The upcoming Peugeot e-208 GTI uses the same underpinnings and powertrain as the Corsa GSE, but hasn’t been confirmed for Australian showrooms.
The Corsa GSE is the second electric performance model from Opel after the Mokka GSE SUV, which uses the same e-CMP architecture and shares the same front-mounted electric motor with identical outputs.
Toned down from the wild, winged 588kW GSE Vision Gran Turismo concept car added to the Gran Turismo 7 Sony PlayStation game, the Corsa GSE still adds visual muscle and a more aggressive hot hatch stance to what Opel says is Germany’s best-selling small car.
Opel has given the Corsa GSE a lower ride height than the standard model, with white paint contrasting against black detailing on chunkier bumpers, wheel-arch extensions, mirror caps and a black roof with an integrated rear spoiler.
A set of black-and-chrome 18-inch alloy wheels wrapped in Michelin tyres contrast against fluorescent yellow four-piston Alcon brake calipers, while GSE graphics run along the lower front doors of the five-door-only model.
Inside, there are grey, yellow and black tartan and Alcantara-trimmed sports seats with integrated head restraints, along with bright yellow seatbelts, yellow-stitched door trims and aluminium pedals.
Three driving modes progressively unlock more performance, with Eco mode limiting outputs to 150kW and top speed to 150km/h.
Normal mode raises power to 170kW and increases top speed to 180km/h.
The full 207kW output is available in Sport mode, where the lowered sports suspension, GSE-specific hydraulic dampers, anti-roll bars and a Torsen limited-slip differential help manage the front wheels.
The 54kWh lithium-ion battery also enables vehicle-to-load charging and 100kW DC fast charging.
While the same battery delivers almost 430km of range in the regular Corsa Electric, Opel has not yet published a range figure for the Corsa GSE. The Peugeot e-208 GTI has a range of 350km.
Opel was previously owned by General Motors (GM), which also controlled Holden, allowing the now-defunct Australian brand to offer the Spanish-built SB Barina as its light car offering from 1994 until 2001.
This rebadged second-generation Opel Corsa replaced the Japanese-built Barina, which since 1985 had been a rebadged Suzuki Swift – though without a version of the cult-classic Swift GTi hot hatch.
In the SB series, the Barina GSi packed a naturally aspirated 1.6-litre four-cylinder petrol engine and five-speed manual transmission.
It sent what now seems a modest 78kW and 148Nm through the front wheels riding on twin-tri-spoke 14-inch alloy wheels, while weighing a relatively featherweight 968kg.
The XC Barina, a rebadged third-generation Opel Corsa, arrived here in 2001 with a flagship 1.8-litre SRi variant, but the Spanish-sourced range was replaced in 2005 by a rebadged Daewoo Kalos.
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