Vauxhall’s next-generation Corsa Electric will land in 2026 with a bold new look, dramatically longer range and more upmarket billing.

The new model is due to be one of the first cars to ride on parent company Stellantis’s new STLA Small platform – a replacement for the CMP architecture that underpins today’s car, as well as a host of technically related siblings from brands such as Peugeot and Jeep.

Able to accommodate hybrid powertrains but designed primarily for EVs, this new skateboard architecture has been engineered to underpin cars that range from the A segment to the C-segment, with a primary focus on Europe.

Swapping to this new platform, the seventh-generation Corsa is around 10% larger overall than the car it replaces, according to a source familiar with the new model, and is capable in electric form of travelling much farther on a charge, with a maximum range of 340 miles, up from 246 miles today.

Autocar understands the next Corsa will also be positioned with more of a premium focus while keeping its price range – between £29,000 and £36,000 – broadly in line with today’s car. This is part of a bid to steal sales from rivals such as the Renault 5 and Mini Cooper E, as well as the upcoming Volkswagen ID 2 and Cupra Raval.

The new Corsa will take heavy inspiration from Vauxhall’s radical Experimental coupé concept from 2023, chiefly at the front end, where it will completely forego vents and intakes in favour of a minimalist, smooth treatment that signals its all-electric innards.

In place of a conventional grille, the electric Corsa will feature a slick new interpretation of Vauxhall’s ‘Vizor’ motif. Ultra-slim LED headlights will be joined by a wraparound transparent panel that houses an illuminated badge and the sensors for the supermini’s suite of ADAS functions.

Like the 2023 concept car, the new Corsa will have a prominent vertical crease running along its bonnet and down its visage, forming a cross-shaped ‘compass’ design with the headlights. This motif will be emulated at the rear and is set to become a defining signature of new-era Vauxhall models.

It is understood the British car maker is also looking to tone down its branding for its next generation of cars so the badging is expected to be kept to a minimum.

Meanwhile, flush-fitting door handles will contribute to the more minimalist aesthetic and aid aerodynamic efficiency, while new wheels – to be offered no smaller than 19in – will be designed to channel air as effectively as possible under the car.

The reinvention will be even more eye-catching in the Corsa’s cabin, which, Autocar understands, will be totally overhauled in line with the brand’s repositioning of its smallest model.

The primary objective is to offer functionality and material appeal that cement its new premium billing. Plush recycled textiles will be used extensively throughout the cockpit, it will feature new standard equipment including a panoramic roof and ambient lighting, and there will be a slick new ‘floating’ centre console that frees up space where a transmission tunnel would have been – a benefit of the EV-first STLA platform.

Notably, there will be no conventional driver display. It will be replaced by a standard-fit head-up display interface, as with the latest Mini Cooper.

The Corsa will follow its newer SUV stablemates in adopting a heavily reduced suite of physical buttons and switches. The primary control panel will be that new floating central touchscreen, angled towards the driver for easy on-the-move access in an evolution of the brand’s ‘Pure Panel’ dashboard arrangement.

More details of the next Corsa’s technical make-up will arrive around the start of next year, when Stellantis gives a full debrief about the STLA Small platform. But it has already been confirmed to house batteries of up to 82kWh in capacity and that would seem a likely option for the Corsa, given its top-end 340-mile range.

STLA Small retains 400V charging hardware, like CMP, and that will restrict charging speeds compared with more expensive 800V-equipped cars, but the new Corsa is expected to be able to top up more quickly than today’s car, which maxes out at 100kW.

What remains unclear is whether Vauxhall will keep today’s combustion Corsa on sale in its current form alongside the all-new EV or offer an ICE-powered version of the new-generation car.

While STLA Small can house hybrid systems, the company is unlikely to invest heavily in a new generation of ICE models when UK and EU legislation will force its retirement in a few years, so a heavy visual update of the current Corsa hybrid would seem the more viable option.