German brand Opel has unveiled its first electric hot hatch, the Corsa GSEwhich is said to be a spiritual successor to the Corsa GSi.
The second-generation Corsa GSi was sold here as the Holden Barina GSi between 1994 and 1999, while the third-generation GSi was sold here from 2001 to 2005 as the Barina SRi.
The electric hot hatch carries 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.”
The electric powertrain delivers 207kW of power and 345Nm of torque through the front wheels, for a 0-100km/h sprint time of 5.5 seconds – compared to the 9.0 seconds claimed by the 1994 Holden Barina GSi it-channels, and faster than the 5.7-litre V8 HSV GTS launched the same year.
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Full details of the new electric hatchback haven’t been revealed yet, nor have prices, although it will certainly cost more than the $23,310 (before on-road costs) that Holden charged 32 years ago for the Barina GSi – which was considered expensive at the time.
The new hero model won’t make it to Australia, as the Opel brand was last sold here in 2013. More recently, the brand returned to the New Zealand market in 2022, before the 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 has not yet been confirmed for Australian showrooms.
The Corsa GSE is Opel’s second electric performance model, after the Mokka GSE SUV, which uses the same e-CMP architecture and shares the same front-mounted electric motor with identical power outputs.
Toned down from the wild, winged 588 kW GSE Vision Gran Turismo concept car added to the Gran Turismo 7 Sony’s PlayStation playlist, the Corsa GSE, continues to add visual punch and a more aggressive hot hatch stance to what Opel claims 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 with black details on thicker 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 tires contrast with fluorescent yellow four-piston Alcon brake calipers, while GSE graphics run along the five-door model’s lower front doors.
Inside, there are gray, yellow and black tartan and Alcantara-trimmed sports seats with integrated headrests, bright yellow seat belts, yellow stitched door panels and aluminum pedals.
Three driving modes provide increasing performance, with Eco mode limiting power to 150 kW and top speed to 150 km/h.
Normal mode increases power to 170 kW and increases top speed to 180 km/h.
The full 207 kW of power is available in Sport mode, where the lowered sports suspension, GSE-specific hydraulic dampers, anti-roll bars and a Torsen limited slip differential help keep the front wheels under control.
The 54 kWh lithium-ion battery also enables vehicle-to-charge charging and 100 kW DC fast charging.
While the same battery in the regular Corsa Electric provides almost 430 km of range, Opel has not yet published a range figure for the Corsa GSE. The Peugeot e-208 GTI has a range of 350 km.
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 a light car from 1994 to 2001.
This rebadged second-generation Opel Corsa replaced the Japanese-built Barina, which had been a rebadged Suzuki Swift since 1985 – albeit without a version of the cult classic Swift GTi hot hatch.
In the SB series, the Barina GSi had a naturally aspirated 1.6-litre four-cylinder petrol engine and a five-speed manual gearbox.
It sent what now seems like a modest 78kW and 148Nm of power through the front wheels and rode on 14-inch twin-spoke alloy wheels while weighing a relative featherweight 968kg.
The XC Barina, a third-generation Opel Corsa, arrived here in 2001 with a flagship 1.8-litre SRi variant, but the Spanish range was replaced by a rebadged Daewoo Kalos in 2005.
MORE: Peugeot e-208 GTi unveiled: French hot hatch goes electric
