Try it, Opel Mokka-e: the electric crossover with an intriguing design

Try it, Opel Mokka-e

Impossible not to notice it on the street! This is the first thought we had with this car, both for its Matcha Green color and for its interesting and innovative shapes; The Opel Mokka-e is the brand's shared platform electric proposal now under the control of Stellantis.

The Opel Mokka was originally introduced by the brand for the first time in 2012 and has undergone major changes since then; if before it was in fact an SUV with soft lines and with components shared with Chevrolet, now it is developed on the PSA e-CMP platform - now Stellantis - which is a modular platform capable of housing both batteries for the electric versions and the classic engine for versions with thermal combustion. This solution guarantees flexibility and convenience, avoiding the high cost of developing two parallel and totally incompatible solutions with each other; this choice has its positive and negative aspects including the lack of a front trunk which, even in the electric version, houses the engine and this certainly would not have happened if the platform had been designed only for electric vehicles.

Federicovecchio.com Federicovecchio.com The external design is interesting, the front is angular and powerful despite the small size of the vehicle which measures just over 4 meters in length (4151 mm), 1986 mm wide, mirrors included and 1523 mm tall; the lines are one of the strong points of this Mokka-e, in fact they manage to meet the tastes and requests of European customers. The choice of such bright colors, then, highlights the shapes of the vehicle which are also helped by the contrasting roof and alloy wheels with a decidedly interesting design; the angular and avant-garde lines chosen by Opel have proved successful and we will see it again shortly with the new Opel Astra.

Entering the passenger compartment, one is immediately greeted by the seats in Alcantara and leather, by the door upholstery in Alcantara with contrasting stitching and carbon - unfortunately fake - but pleasant to the touch and to the eye, all accompanied by glossy black plastics on the center console and on the frame of the screens in the passenger compartment which if they had been opaque would have certainly further improved an already interesting passenger compartment.

An applause goes to Opel for having maintained, unlike many competitors, the physical buttons for the climate; the air conditioning controls via the infotainment, even on latest generation cars, are often difficult to use and also not very fluid, distracting the driver and often ruining the experience on board.

Federicovecchio.com Federicovecchio .com Speaking precisely of the technological aspect, Mokka-e has two generously sized screens and guarantees compatibility with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto only via cable, no wireless options for now; a Mokka-e pride is certainly the excellent equipment as regards the ADAS, mounting both adaptive cruise control and lane centering, as well as automatic emergency braking and blind spot monitoring.

The engine it is decidedly particular, in fact, unlike many electric cars that can be disorienting for traditional drivers due to the violent torque delivery, Mokka-e (and all the cars of the Stellantis group that use this technology) have 136 hp and 260 available Nm of torque, delivered smoothly and linearly; in addition, there are 3 driving modes that radically change the behavior of the vehicle by heavily intervening on delivery. The Normal mode brings the power output to 80 kW (about 107 hp) and the torque to 220 Nm, the Eco mode to 60 kW (about 80 hp) and 180 Nm and only in Sport are all 100 kW (about 136 hp) delivered ) and 260 Nm of torque; the difference between the three modes is clear and to have the best range we used it purely between Eco and Normal, considering the Sport mode quite superfluous on such a car.

Federicovecchio.com The vehicle weight is 1500 kg, an increase of 250/300 kg compared to a medium diesel crossover but, thanks to the power supply of the electric motors, it is not so perceptible; the suspensions are well calibrated and aim to mitigate the roll in the changes of direction rather than comfort, in fact they are quite rigid in daily use, absorbing well the repeated imperfections of the asphalt and masking, at the same time, the weight of the vehicle if not carried at the limit. The 50 kWh battery allows, according to Opel, 319 km in the WLTP cycle but according to our tests the real average in a similar cycle is 250 km; then using Mokka-e on the motorway, the autonomy drops significantly, even reaching 180/200 km of real use. It should be emphasized that this kind of car is not designed for the motorway, in fact with a purely urban and extra-urban use it is not impossible to get close to 280 km of autonomy, easily rechargeable by connecting to a Fast column since Opel Mokka-e is capable of charging at 100 kW in direct current.

Federicovecchio.com In our charging tests we realized that 100 kW are maintained for a few minutes when the battery is really low - 5 or 10% - and that the average charging power is between 70 and 75 kW. This means that in 25/30 minutes of parking it is possible to recharge a more than satisfactory amount of energy, passing from 20% to about 70%. The version we tested is the Ultimate which starts at 40,250 euros; In conclusion, the Opel Mokka-e is an aesthetically fascinating car, well done and that is at ease on city streets, but the price could still be high.