Opel is preparing a rival for the Renault 5 E-Tech and the Volkswagen ID.Polo. But don’t expect it anywhere soon. The new all-electric Corsa is suffering from delays and won’t arrive before 2028.
Opel CEO Florian Huettl has unveiled further details about the upcoming Corsa. Even though parent company Stellantis has softened its stance on electrification, the new generation of Opel’s city dweller will be electric-only.
According to Huettl, the brand’s contender in the budget segment should carry a price tag of around €25,000, a notable cut from the current electric Corsa’s €30,000-plus starting price. There’s no gasoline or hybrid option on the menu for this technological base.
All-new platform
The next Corsa will sit on Stellantis’ next-generation small-car architecture, STLA One, which the engineers are still ironing out. The new platform is software-defined and brings larger battery packs and a considerable boost in driving range compared with the existing e-CMP setup. Today’s electric Corsa Electric comes with a 46- or 49-kWh battery and a claimed range of up to 429 kilometers.
The first production vehicle to ride on the new underpinnings is the second-generation Peugeot e-208. It is rumored that the French city car could get the steer-by-wire Hypersquare steering wheel.
This should lead to new packaging opportunities, freeing up more interior space. Also on the table are advanced driver assistance systems that build on AI and should elevate the car’s understanding of its surroundings.
Something old, something new
Despite the electric-only positioning, Opel is not burning its bridges to combustion. Reportedly, the brand is weighing whether to keep the current hybrid-powered Corsa in production even after the new EV arrives.
A move similar to that of brands like Volvo and Mercedes, which continue the combustion versions of their current model ranges while building the electric versions on completely new building blocks. Opel no longer names a hard deadline for phasing out internal combustion engines entirely.
In the same interview, Huettl pointed out that gasoline prices hovering around €2.50 per liter are already pushing demand toward EVs in ways that subsidies alone cannot match. He also noted that the charging network is improving and policy support remains in place.
The logic is simple: if running costs tip the balance, price becomes the last hurdle. At €25,000, the new Corsa would aim to clear that hurdle in the entry-level segment. But both legacy carmakers and Chinese rivals have already landed with aggressive pricing. The electric Corsa will need all the tech it can get to make a fist against the competition.
