Popular car brand gives bargain EV a major upgrade to increase its range to 266 miles – and it’s available next month

A HUGE car brand has given its bargain EV a major upgrade to increase its range to 266 miles – and you could be driving it next month.

VAUXHALL has released an updated version of its Long Range electric vehicle, starting at £28,900.

The previous variant of the Vauxhall Corsa Electric was able to drive 252 miles, but the updated vehicle can go 266 miles between charges.

This is a 14 mile increase in range from the previous model, and 61 mile increase from when the Corsa Electric first launched in 2019.

Improvements have been attributed to “improved battery cell chemistry” in the car's nickel-manganese-cobalt (NMC) battery, and “an optimised powertrain” with efficient motor reducing energy consumption.

Vauxhall has also added vehicle-to-load (V2L) capabilities to the updated Corsa Electric, enabling the car battery to power external devices up to 3.6kW and 16A.

Available from May, this does require a charging cable with a bespoke V2L ‘gun', which will be sold by Vauxhall dealers.

The new Corsa Electric Long Range is to be sold from £28,900, with a high level of equipment included as standard.

This includes heated front seats, a heated vegan leather steering wheel, 16-inch allow wheels and a colour-matched interior available in Eucalyptus Green, Cobalt Blue or Kiss Red.

The price of the ‘Yes' Edition trim is £1395 more than the unchanged regular version of the car with a 221-mile range at 134bhp, which increased by £675.

This is as Vauxhall is said to have cut the price of its electric cars to under £40,000 to counter the luxury car tax.

However, the UK car manufacturer has still increased prices across the rest of the modelrange whilst introducing the revised Corsa Electric.

Vauxhall's cars can be compared to EV competitors like the Renault 5, which provides a 252-mile range selling from £22,985, or the new Hundai Inster at 229 miles from £23,495.

Other related electric vehicles are expected to see similar upgrades, such as the Peugeot e-208.