Renault 5 vs Vauxhall Corsa

The Vauxhall Corsa costs £4,510 more than the Renault 5. For that premium it adds 30 miles more WLTP range. The Renault 5 is not just cheaper - it also offers 59 litres more boot space. On EVcarsguide's combined category scores, the Renault 5 comes out ahead overall.

The Renault 5 is £4,510 cheaper to buy. The Renault 5 is cheaper to charge, roughly £144 a year versus £176 for the Vauxhall Corsa, at 8,000 miles on an off-peak home tariff. Add 5 years of charging and the Renault 5 comes out roughly £4,670 cheaper overall. These figures cover list price and home charging only - insurance, servicing, tyres and depreciation will move the real total.

EVcarsguide estimates a real-world motorway range of about 160 miles for the Renault 5 and 149 miles for the Vauxhall Corsa - effectively matched, and both well below their WLTP figures because sustained high speed is the hardest case for an EV. Both rapid-charge to 80% in a similar time, around 30-31 minutes.

The Vauxhall Corsa is the easier car for tight UK car parks: it is 43 mm narrower than the Renault 5. In a standard 2,400 mm bay that leaves about 635 mm of total clearance for the Vauxhall Corsa and about 592 mm of total clearance for the Renault 5. The Renault 5 also turns in a 0.4 m tighter circle, which helps with U-turns and multi-storey ramps.

Over a 8-year ownership window EVcarsguide's degradation model projects roughly 84% battery health for the Renault 5 and 84% for the Vauxhall Corsa. That is close enough that capacity loss should not decide between them. Both use NMC-type cells, so for daily use keep the charge limit near 80% to slow degradation. Both batteries carry a 8-year manufacturer warranty.