Opel Mokka-e: An EV that tests the limits of range anxiety

In many ways life with an electric car can be either disastrous or heavenly. Rarely does it break the soil on any middle ground.

Such was my recent encounter with the Opel Mokka-e when I had it for the usual week-long test. My initial experience was disastrous and my subsequent time with the car was heavenly – or very nearly so at least, albeit with one or two quibbles.

The Mokka, of course, is – after the new Corsa – one of the most important cars Opel will make this year and into the future, following on from its’ Irish launch earlier this year.

Opel is now part of the broad church that is the Stellantis group which came about following the merger of the Fiat Chrysler Group and the PSA outfit which previously controlled Peugeot, Citroen and Opel.

Utilising largely French technology (which is somewhat ironic for a former giant of the German automotive sector), the Mokka-e is bang on the money to sell in large quantities right now. It is blessed with modern, slightly edgy styling, a selection of outré paint colours, a large dose of tech and up-to-the-minute electric technology (for however long that remains to be the case).

With this car – and the Corsa – the portents for Opel’s future looks very bright, but while much of my time with the lurid (it came with a colour scheme that’s called Mamba Green) Mokka was indeed nearly heavenly, my introduction to it was completely disastrous.

Now, though nobody’s fault at all, the Mokka arrived with just 125km of range on the clock. Not unreasonably, I felt, that was enough for me to undertake the trip from Cork city to my West Cork hideaway, a distance of 121.9. Not so.

Despite my best efforts – and I’ll admit I’m learning the different driving techniques required for an electric all the time – by the time I got to Dunmanway panic was setting in.

Despite having turned everything off – radio, air con., etc. – utilised everything the recharging system would give back to me and even freewheeled when the terrain allowed it, there was just 50 klicks left.

That was not going to do the business and I was going to need a charge to get me home. Of course we now run into a problem facing all electristas – finding a public charger and, most importantly, one which was not already occupied by a), a Nissan Leaf owner or b), was actually in working order.

I didn’t know there was a charge point in Dunmanway, but there is in the car park in Tan Yard Lane. Unlucky for me, it started raining stair rods as I pulled up and I got saturated simply trying to get things up and running.

An hour and a half later – still steaming gently – and with just 50 more klicks added to my range, I dared venture forth. I made it west with 30km left in the tank. It was all a little dispiriting and as I plugged the Mokka into my home charger, I felt little love for the Opel.

I had not enjoyed the drive west in any shape or form, so concentrated was I simply on actually completing the journey. 

I didn’t really have the capacity to take in normal stuff like handling prowess or grip levels or even ride comfort.

The week around West Cork allowed me take in those bits of the Mokka I had had to ignore while getting there and I discovered the car to be quite pleasurable to drive with decent handling traits, excellent grip levels and a ride comfort which was as good as anything in the SUV class.

For the return trip, I was confidently armed with a full range of 310 km (Opel claims the full range to be 324 km, but this car stuck resolutely at 310 and would go no higher) and, in truth, it got something of a caning on the journey to Cork.

The 100 kW (136 bhp) motor (along with the 50-kWh battery) which powers the Mokka-e allows for a top speed of 150 km/h and a 0-100 km/h time of nine seconds dead, neither of which will excite anyone with any drop of benzina in their bloodstream.

But it is quite possible to wring the Mokka’s neck a bit and it will hold its own impressively when under the cosh. That said it is not an electric of old whereby you suffered from light switch acceleration – i.e. all or nothing.

Power is delivered smoothly and in a very linear fashion and if you can adapt your driving style to mirror that smoothness, then you are well on the way to maximising what energy is available to you and extracting the utmost mileage from the car.

Unfortunately, I was under time pressure to have the car back and maximization was not a top priority. In any event, after the terrorizing trip west initially, I was in no mood for hanging around. So, it was on-the-door-handles all the way back to Cork. One extreme to another.

The other extreme, however, did not particularly shine the car in any great light either. By Drimoleague, some 100 of the 310 km in the tank were gone. By Crookstown, there was only 130 km left.

And, when I finally pulled up in Cork to hook up with the guys taking it back to Dublin, there were just 98 klicks left on the clock. That did not suggest to me a car which was capable of the Dublin-Cork trip in one go – which it should, on the basis of the manufacturer’s claims. The lads driving it back to Dublin were facing a lengthy stop somewhere along the line (Fermoy, most likely) at a fast charger.

And mentioning the charging times, Opel says the Mokka will charge to 80% on a 100-kW unit in just 30 minutes and on a regular 11 kW home charge point in five hours, fifteen minutes. It took four hours fifteen minutes on my one.

I must say I liked the Mokka’s design moxy; I liked that it was as practical as any small SUV should be; I liked that it was generously equipped; and, I liked that it generally drove well – and with some verve when needed. What it did not appear to do, however, was match the consumption claims made for it by the manufacturer and I didn’t really like that.

Whether you drove like your grannie or Lewis Hamilton, it did not appear to matter. The Mokka still seemed to use up more juice than it was supposed to and even when you resorted to trying to trick it into performing better, it just didn’t.

Despite the downsides, I actually really liked this car and I am perfectly sure it will find a happy home in many driveways around the country, but those happy homes will have to build the limitations of the car into their expectations of it.

My Mokka experience was both disastrous and heavenly, but I reckon that, as it is developed in the coming years, it will gestate into something which delivers less of the former and more of the latter.

Indeed, it will be interesting to see if sister car the Peugeot e-2008, which we will be testing shortly, shares these characteristics. Oddly, neither the Corsa-e or the Peugeot e-208, which share the same mechanicals, had the Mokka’s apparent thirst. We shall see.