I had the pleasure of getting a factory fresh hire car delivered a month ago. The car was brand new, delivered with just 21 miles on the clock. The guy dropping it off said it was delivered several months prior to the depot, with nobody hiring it in the meantime. He himself had got in it with 5 miles on the clock before delivering it to me!
You don't get these in the US, but you may get some of it's Stellantis related cousins, or if not now, in the future.
The car is a 2025 Vauxhall Mokka E, housing a 154bhp electric motor in front wheel drive configuration and a 50kWh battery giving a range as tested using the WLTP test cycle of over 250miles, in reality though, it's a lot less than that, a lot less.
The car did come in 'Ultimate' trim which comes with heated massaging seats, adaptive cruise control, keyless entry, half leather/half Alcantara upholstery among a lot of other toys. I had high hopes for this car when it was delivered!
Driving position was great, you can get the driving seat nice and low, hiding it's somewhat raised looks and general crossover ridiculousness. However, the oblong steering wheel was just weird to use and in my driving position, cut through the top of the instrument cluster, so I ended up raising the steering wheel a little higher than I would have liked just so I could see what speed I was going.
The sound system was suprisingly good too. But unfortunately let down by poor build quality in the doors. Anything with any kind of bass or deep talking at high volumes would result in an awful rattle from each door. I found myself pushing the drivers door card with my knee trying to dull some rattles on many of occasion.
And even more irritating, you can't just press the start button to turn the car on or off. You have to press and hold it for around 2 seconds before it will acknowledge your press. Why? And to make matters worse, when you turned the car on you'd have to wait 5 seconds or so for everything to initialise before you could put it in drive and go. As a getaway car, this would be useless! But as a daily driver, just downright annoying.
This car isn't big, it would fit in a Fiesta category. I will say the front seemed somewhat spacious, but compromise was felt in the rear where legroom was very poor. I'm a typical Welshman and so a little lacking in the height department at only 5ft 7", sometimes 5ft 8" when I first wake up, but even in my driving position both my kids would regularly argue about who had to sit behind me because the legroom was nil.
I'd have given a bit of space up front, to make the rear passengers more comfortable. If you're much taller than me, and that's not difficult, you're not having anyone in the back.
And another downright ridiculous design that I totally forgot to take a photo and now I'm kicking myself for because I have to use words, the wireless phone charger! This sits in the tray at the front of the centre console. Pop your compatible phone in and it charges away, great! BUT, under the dash is a little light that illuminates the tray so you can find it in the dark. You know what would be a really bad idea? Putting something reflective in that tray as it will direct the light back into the drivers eyes. Something shiny like... maybe a phones screen? Did Vauxhall not do any testing in the dark to realise this horrific design flaw? It's like driving with arc eye.
And driving it doesn't get much better. I have an absolute hatred of 2WD SUV's and crossovers. I believe if you have the ground clearance you might a swell be able to use it. You're compromising on handling, ride quality, fuel economy and performance in order to have raised suspension. If you have 2WD, then it's a complete waste. And here is a great example of why I hate them so. The initial turn in is slow, the car kind-of lumbers over to one side when the steering wheel is turned before the car actually starts to change direction. At times, it can be quite unsettling. There's a split second delay where you start to wonder if you've over cooked a corner before you realise all is actually well. You get used to it, but why should you? I've driven a handful of Vauxhall Corsas and Peugeot 208's of this era, these cars that sit on the same platform as the Mokka, these cars that don't have the raised suspension and they're a lot more direct and a lot sharper overall. I think they ride better too.
The powertrain somehow doesn't have an EV-ness to it. Every EV I've driven has razor sharp responses to throttle input, that's one of their advantages. But this? No. You step on the accelerator and the power builds slowly. Again, why? Put it in sport mode and it's miles better, but still not what I've been accustomed to with other EV's. It's reasonably quick, it does 0-60 in less than 9 seconds, it keeps up fine with day to day traffic, but it could be so much better.
Oh, and ADAS. This is the most over-intrusive and nervous system I've come across. Always blaring away to let you know you're about to collide with a gentle breeze, or getting itself into a state on the motorway because it can't quite work out where centre of the lane is and shimmy's from side to side while getting itself all flustered. There was numerous times I had to forcefully grab the steering wheel at low speeds because it tried to shove me into a kerb or a bush. I'm not anti-ADAS, but if this was the only car I'd driven with ADAS, I probably would be.
I love adaptive cruise control. I spend a lot of time in start/stop traffic or traffic that is constantly changing speed and adaptive cruise takes a lot of stress out of the equation. Sometimes not from a fatigue point of view, but when stuck in traffic, doing very little vs constantly accelerating and braking and accelerating etc, is quite welcome and generally keeps you calmer about the situation. But again, the Mokka falls short. Anything it's unsure of, or it doesn't like, it just disconnects. This isn't unusual, most cars do this. But, the Mokka gets upset over someone running a bath in the next town over. Someone pulls out slightly too close to you? Most cars would slow to increase the gap and carry on, not the Mokka, it just disconnects. You haven't moved the steering wheel much for a few seconds because you're driving in a straight line? Disconnect. It's infuriating.
And my final rant. THE RANGE! Or not so much the range itself, but the cars ability to lie to you, constantly. The range isn't dynamic. It just sets itself to whatever it believes you can do if you followed the WLTP test cycle. So 100% means the range is reading 258miles, 50% will show 129miles, 25% would show 65miles etc. However, in the real world, in the cold and doing motorway speeds, I was seeing 120-150miles out of a full battery. And that level of range is fine for what is a compact SUV that for most people will spend it's time around town. The range isn't so much the issue, it's the lack of accurate range forecasting. The inability to see a sign on the motorway with a list of services and the distance to them, checking your range and deciding where to stop. Suddenly, it becomes an arithmetic exercise taking far more effort than it ever should.
I left Strensham Services on the M5 Southbound on Tuesday with 71% battery and the range reading ~183miles. I had 87miles to get home. I got home like this...
I will give an honourable mention to the tyres. Michelin e.Primacy in 195/60 R18 size. Fantastic in very wet conditions, way better than I expected them to be. They dealt with standing water like it wasn't there! And I got caught in some snow and ice over the course of the last week or so and they behaved themselves impeccably, especially for what is ultimately a summer tyre.
So there, the Mokka E. If it, or one of it's many siblings such as the Jeep Avenger or Alfa Romeo Junior happens to wash ashore over there, don't do it! A smidge over 2000miles and I was glad to send this one back.
You don't get these in the US, but you may get some of it's Stellantis related cousins, or if not now, in the future.
The car is a 2025 Vauxhall Mokka E, housing a 154bhp electric motor in front wheel drive configuration and a 50kWh battery giving a range as tested using the WLTP test cycle of over 250miles, in reality though, it's a lot less than that, a lot less.
The car did come in 'Ultimate' trim which comes with heated massaging seats, adaptive cruise control, keyless entry, half leather/half Alcantara upholstery among a lot of other toys. I had high hopes for this car when it was delivered!
Driving position was great, you can get the driving seat nice and low, hiding it's somewhat raised looks and general crossover ridiculousness. However, the oblong steering wheel was just weird to use and in my driving position, cut through the top of the instrument cluster, so I ended up raising the steering wheel a little higher than I would have liked just so I could see what speed I was going.
The sound system was suprisingly good too. But unfortunately let down by poor build quality in the doors. Anything with any kind of bass or deep talking at high volumes would result in an awful rattle from each door. I found myself pushing the drivers door card with my knee trying to dull some rattles on many of occasion.
And even more irritating, you can't just press the start button to turn the car on or off. You have to press and hold it for around 2 seconds before it will acknowledge your press. Why? And to make matters worse, when you turned the car on you'd have to wait 5 seconds or so for everything to initialise before you could put it in drive and go. As a getaway car, this would be useless! But as a daily driver, just downright annoying.
This car isn't big, it would fit in a Fiesta category. I will say the front seemed somewhat spacious, but compromise was felt in the rear where legroom was very poor. I'm a typical Welshman and so a little lacking in the height department at only 5ft 7", sometimes 5ft 8" when I first wake up, but even in my driving position both my kids would regularly argue about who had to sit behind me because the legroom was nil.
I'd have given a bit of space up front, to make the rear passengers more comfortable. If you're much taller than me, and that's not difficult, you're not having anyone in the back.
And another downright ridiculous design that I totally forgot to take a photo and now I'm kicking myself for because I have to use words, the wireless phone charger! This sits in the tray at the front of the centre console. Pop your compatible phone in and it charges away, great! BUT, under the dash is a little light that illuminates the tray so you can find it in the dark. You know what would be a really bad idea? Putting something reflective in that tray as it will direct the light back into the drivers eyes. Something shiny like... maybe a phones screen? Did Vauxhall not do any testing in the dark to realise this horrific design flaw? It's like driving with arc eye.
And driving it doesn't get much better. I have an absolute hatred of 2WD SUV's and crossovers. I believe if you have the ground clearance you might a swell be able to use it. You're compromising on handling, ride quality, fuel economy and performance in order to have raised suspension. If you have 2WD, then it's a complete waste. And here is a great example of why I hate them so. The initial turn in is slow, the car kind-of lumbers over to one side when the steering wheel is turned before the car actually starts to change direction. At times, it can be quite unsettling. There's a split second delay where you start to wonder if you've over cooked a corner before you realise all is actually well. You get used to it, but why should you? I've driven a handful of Vauxhall Corsas and Peugeot 208's of this era, these cars that sit on the same platform as the Mokka, these cars that don't have the raised suspension and they're a lot more direct and a lot sharper overall. I think they ride better too.
The powertrain somehow doesn't have an EV-ness to it. Every EV I've driven has razor sharp responses to throttle input, that's one of their advantages. But this? No. You step on the accelerator and the power builds slowly. Again, why? Put it in sport mode and it's miles better, but still not what I've been accustomed to with other EV's. It's reasonably quick, it does 0-60 in less than 9 seconds, it keeps up fine with day to day traffic, but it could be so much better.
Oh, and ADAS. This is the most over-intrusive and nervous system I've come across. Always blaring away to let you know you're about to collide with a gentle breeze, or getting itself into a state on the motorway because it can't quite work out where centre of the lane is and shimmy's from side to side while getting itself all flustered. There was numerous times I had to forcefully grab the steering wheel at low speeds because it tried to shove me into a kerb or a bush. I'm not anti-ADAS, but if this was the only car I'd driven with ADAS, I probably would be.
I love adaptive cruise control. I spend a lot of time in start/stop traffic or traffic that is constantly changing speed and adaptive cruise takes a lot of stress out of the equation. Sometimes not from a fatigue point of view, but when stuck in traffic, doing very little vs constantly accelerating and braking and accelerating etc, is quite welcome and generally keeps you calmer about the situation. But again, the Mokka falls short. Anything it's unsure of, or it doesn't like, it just disconnects. This isn't unusual, most cars do this. But, the Mokka gets upset over someone running a bath in the next town over. Someone pulls out slightly too close to you? Most cars would slow to increase the gap and carry on, not the Mokka, it just disconnects. You haven't moved the steering wheel much for a few seconds because you're driving in a straight line? Disconnect. It's infuriating.
And my final rant. THE RANGE! Or not so much the range itself, but the cars ability to lie to you, constantly. The range isn't dynamic. It just sets itself to whatever it believes you can do if you followed the WLTP test cycle. So 100% means the range is reading 258miles, 50% will show 129miles, 25% would show 65miles etc. However, in the real world, in the cold and doing motorway speeds, I was seeing 120-150miles out of a full battery. And that level of range is fine for what is a compact SUV that for most people will spend it's time around town. The range isn't so much the issue, it's the lack of accurate range forecasting. The inability to see a sign on the motorway with a list of services and the distance to them, checking your range and deciding where to stop. Suddenly, it becomes an arithmetic exercise taking far more effort than it ever should.
I left Strensham Services on the M5 Southbound on Tuesday with 71% battery and the range reading ~183miles. I had 87miles to get home. I got home like this...
I will give an honourable mention to the tyres. Michelin e.Primacy in 195/60 R18 size. Fantastic in very wet conditions, way better than I expected them to be. They dealt with standing water like it wasn't there! And I got caught in some snow and ice over the course of the last week or so and they behaved themselves impeccably, especially for what is ultimately a summer tyre.
So there, the Mokka E. If it, or one of it's many siblings such as the Jeep Avenger or Alfa Romeo Junior happens to wash ashore over there, don't do it! A smidge over 2000miles and I was glad to send this one back.
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