Featured Opel/Vauxhall Corsa BEV

i think it's gorgeous, and 30k would be a great price here. nice first attempt!

still waiting for some larger bevs for the us though. maybe europe doesn't need them?

 

I think we should separate the issue of (1) the overall size of the vehicle and (2) the size of the battery capacity in-terms of how far you can drive on a single charge in real life.
My opinion is (1) in rural areas, larger physical size may be considered a plus for i creased comfort and utility, but for most of the congested city areas of Europe, it is far harder to maneuver and park a larger vehicle. That is the reason cars such as the Smart car or Fiat 500 have been popular in urban areas. Personally, i rent the smallest vehicle I can when driving in urban areas in Europe.
(2) a smaller , lower-range battery pack may be sufficient for Europe as major cities are closer together and typical trip driving distances are, I think, noticeably shorter than in the US. I believe that the average commuting distances are also shorter. (Cannot recall if I have seen actual data on these points or not.)
Thus, I think the Opel BEV might be successful.
But I agree with OP that these are ICE designs re-engineered to BEV rather than nee, ground-up BEV designs like Tesla, and are thus less optimized for being a BEV.

 

i can only think it is cost. not everyones battery price is the same. how much is a model 3 in norway?

 

Looks like a practical hatchback. I'd probably be happy enough driving one around town.

There's nothing inherently wrong with the packaging of this car and I really don't understand why it's a point of criticism. Because it's a FWD car, it makes sense that the whole motor, transmission, and cooling package sits up front under the hood. The powertrain layout also suggests that unlike the Model 3, it likely has a spare tire rather than the old pat on the back and "good luck, bro" you get with cars with no spare (in our case, the Prime and our Model S).

A follow on question regarding strange battery placement: where should the battery be exactly? The batteries of both cars are located in essentially the same place - across the floor of the car, within the wheelbase.

 

It is because they started with a FWD ICE platform. Easier to keep the motor in the front than to re-engineer the rear end for it. It is lower cost when you don't have dedicated BEV platform like Tesla and VW, but compromises have to be made.

The Bolt and Leaf use a FWD platform and place the battery in the center, and neither have a spare tire. The lack is mostly about cutting weight for maximum range.

A BEV platform more efficiently packs in the battery. Meaning more capacity or less space loss. The platform can make better use of space, instead of losing some to unuse. The Ioniq Electric, and apparently this Corsa, have a void in the former engine bay. Tesla turns that space into another trunk, and VW's design is shifting it to the cabin.

 

This whole post just seems like an argument against FWD. Where exactly is the void here? It's not like there's a ton of open space - I've never going to be able to buy a crashed one and just drop in a huge turbo 2JZ like it's nothing.

 

If I had one, I would stick a plastic bin in the space in front of the battery. There is a void there.

Being an ICE platform, Hyundai made use of the existing engine and transmission mount points. Which means the Electric's set up is mounted higher than it actually needs to be.

FWD spread because of the efficiency advantage from having the drive train being parallel to the drive axle. Because of cooling needs, it is easier to put the engine in the front. It is easier to mount a motor in the rear than an engine. That, and driving dynamics, is why Tesla and VW's platform are RWD. Every car has traction and stability control now, so the traction advantage of FWD is less. Then AWD is cheaper to do on a BEV, and might be more efficient, so many BEVs will likely be equipped as such.

The only potential downside is regenerative braking efficiency and performance.

 

we have the same problem with leaf and bolt and kona. if you're gonna spend that much money, just get a model 3, unless you really really want a hatch, but it's not like they hold a ton of stuff.

 

otoh, you can poly get a very good deal off of bolt, leaf and maybe kona msrp, whereas model 3 is not discounted, and currently only qualifies for half our federal tax incentive now.
so under the right circumstances, i might get into one of the three choices for under 20k.

 

Really? Am I losing something in this comparison? What numbers are you using to put the Model 3 in-between a Yaris and Corolla?

Mike

 

The neutral pronouns of that post are referring to the Corsa, it is around the size of a US Sonic. Not clear, but he listed the Corsa price before the, "It's a small car."

 

you really need to follow the thread, to see how we went from the corsa to the model 3

 

that 300km + range works out to over 200 miles U.S. Sure don't know of any RC cars that go that far - but it seems decent enough for many (amazing that Nissan Leafs sell, having lower range EV's & no liquid cooling) .... especially since GM equips their rides w/ liquid cooling which significantly decreases premature capacity loss.
Opel Vauxhall, I recall the Vauxhall moniker was also the UK Chevy Volt. Wonder if it's the same platform only with the extra 35kWh's. If so, good to see it's still in use!
As far as motor and inverter being up front, maybe think again.

This is an all-wheel drive - motor up front, only it just sits a tad lower.
.

 

The WLTP rating is closer to actual than the old NEDC test, but still has higher results than the EPA window sticker.
This Corsa's range estimate on the EPA is 183 miles.
Here's How To Calculate Conflicting EV Range Test Cycles: EPA, WLTP, NEDC

Checked earlier, it is a different platform that apparently was never used for North American models.

 

They're still using the platform in China, and you know what kind of numbers you get in China.