2026 Vauxhall Mokka GSE | PH Review
You can buy a GSE-badged Vauxhall again - should you?
Vauxhall has finally conceded what we’ve all been thinking: its present-day lineup is about as exciting as a wet Wednesday at the local bowls club. Perhaps it didn’t say that in so many words, though a promise to “reinject” some fun into proceedings is surely an admission of sorts that a cloying sense of greyness has pervaded for too long. Vauxhall’s cars tend to be practical and even handsome in some ways. But fun and highly desirable? That has been in short supply since it axed VXR back in 2018.
As you might expect, that’s where GSE comes in. It brings a performance flavour back to Vauxhall in a way that vaguely resembles the GTE, GSi and VXRs of yesteryear. But where GTE stood for Grand Touring Einspritzanlage, (Einspritzanlage being German for injection), GSE stands for Grand Sport Electric. That means, as we’ve known for sometime, that it is to be an exclusively battery-powered affair. But with the front-wheel-drive Stellantis platform underpinning the new Mokka from the get go, Vauxhall’s return to the world of (modest) performance cars isn’t exactly a standing start.
Alfa Romeo’s engineers played the most significant role in the development of the already familiar architecture, which combines 281hp and 254lb ft of torque from an electric motor with a Torsen limited-slip differential. It features performance springs and dampers, hydraulic bump stops and a not insignificant amount of negative camber. While Vauxhall wouldn’t provide us with a figure, an Alfa engineer previously told me that the closely related Junior Veloce runs -1.6 and -2.0 degrees of the stuff, at the front and rear respectively. Even a slight decrease in that would be extreme for any series production road car, let alone a Vauxhall-badged crossover.
Making the most of those angles on the Mokka are Michelin Pilot Sport EV tyres on 20-inch wheels, backed by 380mm discs and four-piston Alcon calipers up front. The GSE’s suspension, by the way, lowers the Mokka by 10mm and significantly increases the spring rates front and back. Although arguably the most glaring evidence that the setup is nothing like the regular Mokka is a rear anti-roll stiffness that’s up by 189 per cent. On paper, the GSE’s underlying configuration resembles the Junior Veloce, or indeed Abarth 600e Scorpionissima, which is no bad thing.
They’re also a fair bit more expensive. Though, in fairness (and especially in launch-spec grey), the GSE is much more subtle in its sporting makeover, so immediately ranks as less desirable than the Italians. Nevertheless, with £1.5k of UK EV grant included, at £35,495 the GSE is not only two grand cheaper than the smaller and less powerful Alpine A290, it’s also four grand cheaper than the 281hp 600e Scorpionissima, and seven grand less than the Alfa. Before you rush to the comments to ask who in their right mind would still spend £35k on a Mokka, don’t forget that this electric crossover class is most popular with company car drivers. If a GSE appears on your company car list alongside a mid-spec ID.3, you’d be forgiven for being tempted.
It’s a real shame then that the understated exterior - which does admittedly gain more muscular bumpers to go with its beefed-up stance and GSE stickers - isn’t aided much by what’s inside. If you ignore the GSE’s bucket-style seats, you’re basically confronted with a standard Mokka cabin. Granted, the previous-gen Vauxhall switchgear means you have actual buttons and knobs where other Stellantis cars don’t, but the designers might have at least thrown the GSE colours at the wheel and passenger airbag cover. The Alcantara-clad seats, too, aren’t as exciting to behold as the Sabelt buckets you get in either Italian sibling, though I suppose we should just be grateful they’re standard-fit. They’re certainly supportive with good bolstering, and mounted lower than in the cooking version.
This establishes the tone appropriately enough, because as soon as you set off you can also sense the ‘Alfa’ in the handling genes. With 225/40 profile Michelins fitted, the low-speed ride is firm, though the cushioning effect of those hydraulic bump stops prevents it from seeming brittle. A quicker steering rack with 2.7 turns lock-to-lock has benefitted low speed manoeuvrability, and the effortlessness of an electric motor means everything, from holding your own in rush hour traffic to powering onto motorways, is a doddle. At normal speed, the ‘Alfa-ness’ just means the GSE feels like a more grown-up Mokka. Albeit one with a noticeable rise in road noise thanks to the new tyres.
Pick up the pace and the bite provided by the uprated chassis is clear enough, even in the mixed conditions of the GSE’s central Spain launch. Pitch the car into a corner and the nose responds keenly, yet it’s when you really attack a bend that the modifications come into play. The nose darts towards the apex, like a puppy tracking a tennis ball, with the outside wheel’s camber angle meaning the more load you put through it the more it grips up. Even on a winding mountain route that places barriers barely a metre away from the Mokka’s outside door mirror, the diff’s ability to convert mid-corner throttle input into angle-tightening traction always inspires confidence.
From previous experience, we know that the Alfa and Abarth equivalents of the GSE possess similarly eager front ends, though they’re matched by rear-ends that add to the agility. Where the Alfa attempts to mimic an old-school hot hatch by cocking its inside wheel, the firmer-riding Abarth is inclined to let the rear side around - but this first experience suggests that Vauxhall has played it more stable. Even with its firmer anti-roll bar settings, the GSE’s backend is noticeably softer than its 281hp-producing group siblings. It’s not until we venture onto Madrid’s former Grand Prix track, Circuito del Jarama, that the speed is high enough to really get the tail moving. Even then, it’s never lairy.
The body control is impressive, mind, and so are the brakes, which are powerful and progressive, and remarkably resistant to fade on track. On the road you won’t give them much of a workout, not when the GSE’s B-mode - which ramps up the regenerative braking - is strong enough to bring the car to a slow-speed crawl. Although even with this effort-reducing and efficiency-improving tech, the Mokka GSE doesn’t overcome the Achilles heel that is a 50.8kWh battery capacity. A claimed 209 miles of range is only attributed to cars running with eco-focused Goodyears; if you want the grippier Michelins, that drops to 201 miles. Drive fast consistently and probably you’ll half that distance. And with a 100kW maximum charging speed requiring at least half an hour to get you from zilch to 80 per cent, you can’t exactly opt for a ‘splash and dash’ ethos with the GSE.
This means the GSE suffers from the same challenge as its stablemates. Drive it like a normal EV and its range is probably acceptable for most urbanites - but work the motor, diff and chassis as its maker intended and you’ll want to be located conveniently close to your destination, or have a means to charge when you get there. Moreover, it’s easier to imagine the likes of the Abarth or Alpine playing second fiddle in a two-car garage; the number of people buying a Vauxhall (even a mildly sporty one) on the strength of its appearance or badge appeal is likely to be drastically lower.
That doesn’t mean there isn’t a customer for a car with a 200-mile range and 281hp, though with its more aggressive pricing strategy and less aggressive handling, you can imagine most of these being company car users drawn to the added value of a GSE badge. And if that doesn’t sound like there’s much of a party occurring in the new Mokka’s pants, it does at least conform neatly to Vauxhall’s previous concept of what precisely a performance variant should be doing in its lineup. Similarly, it will hope that a worthy upgrade in ability is sufficient to make the prospect of a practical electric crossover seem more fun, though with a Peugeot E-208 GTI-twinned Corsa likely the next addition to the GSE line-up, the best is probably yet to come from Vauxhall.
SPECIFICATION | 2026 VAUXHALL MOKKA GSE
Engine: permanent magnet single electric motor, 50.8kWh usable battery
Transmission: single-speed auto, front-wheel drive
Power (hp): 280
Torque (lb ft): 254
0-62mph: 5.9 seconds
Top speed: 124mph
Weight: 1,597kg (without driver)
Efficiency: 3.4 miles/ kWh
Electric range: 201 miles (WLTP), 100kW charging
Price: £35,495 (inc £1.5k UK EV grant)
I really hope the upcoming 208 GTI nails this platform a bit better, as the 208 is a nice little car in standard form, so could make a good hot hatch (even though I'd prefer a petrol-powered one).
What I would like to see is Stellantis trying to take some inspiration from what Hyundai are doing and find ways to enhance driver engagement, as that's the Achilles heal for a lot of these cars.
And you can't fault then for trying with the Alcons etc.
I wouldn't buy one but as the article says, if the mumflies make sense on SS or on the company car list, who knows? They may be quite popular.
I was chatting to someone from Stellantis Motorsport at a rally in France and it was hard not to get caught-up in their enthusiasm to be honest, and it was really interesting learning about the cars. The Corsas are basically standard and, in the five years they've been running them, they've not had any issues, and all are still on their original batteries and motors. They've spent a lot of time on refining the charging strategies and things too, so hopefully that kind of thing has some genuine trickle-down into the road cars as well.
The Alpines were running in France recently on their maiden event and were apparently setting comparable times to Rally4 cars, so there might be hope for more interesting EV motorsport in the future, and hopefully some motorsport-inspired goodness on the road too.
On every EV thread, as to how uninterested you are !
That to me says you are very interested in some way, just doing a bit of "research" ?
It looks alright, probably quite good fun, fairly brisk if not bats
t mental like a lot of EV's, this is what cars for most folk have morphed into.I'll probably go electric for the daily in 2 or 3 years when stuff like this will be used bargains.
They sometimes do it by mistake. I know someone with a current Astra that turned up from factory with Opel badges…
On every EV thread, as to how uninterested you are !
That to me says you are very interested in some way, just doing a bit of "research" ?
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