Opel Mokka-e review: A clean shot of Mokka
OPEL’S Mokka-e sits at the intersection of 2 of the hottest vehicle categories at the moment: electric cars and Sport Utility Vehicles.
The market is getting crowded with those, so there’s a third reason it stands out, and it’s an important one. It’s the first electric SUV here to sport a German badge and qualify for the cheaper Category A Certificate Of Entitlement (COE) at the same time.
That makes it relatively affordable. At S$159,500, it’s priced to battle the mainstream combustion stuff.
For the money, you get a striking car. The Mokka-e looks low, wide and mean, thanks to a black roof and the glossy black strip that stretches across the front of the car, like a pair of sunglasses.
Inside, it’s very German in the sense that the controls work with a kind of Teutonic heft, and the cabin has a no-nonsense austerity about it. Just about everything in there is black, or some other kind of black.
I hadn’t driven an Opel for years, but I found the Mokka-e’s controls a cinch to use. The touchscreen’s menu system is simple to navigate, and there are still physical switches for quick access to key infotainment features and easy-to-use knobs for the air-con.
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The really important stuff, like Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, blind spot monitors, airbags (8 of them) and parking cameras are all there.
Rear air-con vents are a notable omission, but the Mokka-e doesn’t feel like it’s meant for heavy duty family use. The rear seating is tight enough that you can imagine this as a car for the young and childless or, conversely, for empty nesters.
Just about anyone would find it easy to drive, however. It may be electric, but the Mokka-e is tuned like a regular car. You snick a stubby gear shifter into “D” (or “B” if you want more regenerative braking), and drive it like you would a combustion machine. There’s none of that one-pedal stuff that other EVs offer, and it even creeps forward from standstill if you take your foot off the brake pedal.
Only by engaging Sport mode do you get all 97 horsepower, but the Mokka-e really isn’t all that fast. Instead, it’s responsive, and that instant kick when you prod the accelerator is what makes EVs so engaging.
Even when you floor it, the Mokka-e is like a library inside, and it doesn’t have the bouncy ride that small SUVs usually do. The experience is zen enough to make you wonder if you shouldn’t spurn the oil companies for this.
Could you make it work? Filling the Opel’s battery only takes an hour with a 50 kW charger, and those are now practically as ubiquitous as Starbucks cafes. A full charge should just about get you through a week’s typical driving, so living with a Mokka-e could simply be a matter of stopping at the right mall for a slow cup of mocha.
Opel Mokka-e
Electric Motor / layout Single / Front
Motor power / torque 130 hp / 260 Nm
Battery type / net capacity Lithium-ion, 50 kWh
Normal Charge Type / Time 11 kW AC / 4.5 hours
Max Fast Charge Type / Time 50 kW DC / 30 mins
Range 324 km
0-100km/h 10.1 seconds
Top Speed 150 km/h
Efficiency 14.5 kWh/100km
Agent Auto Germany
Price S$159,500 with COE
Available Now
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