New Vauxhall Mokka Hybrid: small SUV goes green with mild hybrid tech

On sale Now | Price from £25,320

If you’re the kind of person who forgets to put their smartphone on charge each night, then the new Vauxhall Mokka Hybrid could be for you. That’s because it aims to offer many of the benefits of its Vauxhall Mokka Electric sibling – without having to faff around with cables.

Although technically a mild hybrid rather than a full hybrid, the Mokka can be driven on electric power alone for short distances and at low speeds. Its 0.89kWh battery and 28bhp electric motor allow the car to drive without using any fuel for up to a kilometre – provided you’re travelling less than 18mph and using a light right foot. 

In other driving situations, the motor assists the Mokka Hybrid’s 134bhp 1.2-litre petrol engine by offering bursts of pulling power, helping you to get away from traffic lights faster, for example. While that may not sound like much, it could add up to reasonable fuel savings over time if you mainly drive in the city.

Indeed, official figures suggest the new Mokka Hybrid is capable of up to 57.6mpg – a substantial improvement on the 46.3mpg offered by the regular Mokka. CO2 emissions have improved thanks to the hybrid technology, too, to 109g/km – dropping the Mokka Hybrid into the 26% Benefit in Kind tax bracket for company car drivers.

The Mokka Hybrid comes with an eight-speed automatic gearbox as standard, and we’ve already experienced this in the regular car, where we found that it changed cogs smoothly at anything other than manoeuvring speeds. That same low-speed jerkiness is also found in the Mokka’s rivals, the Audi Q2 and Volkswagen T-Roc.

Buyers will be able to order the Mokka Hybrid in GS, Ultimate and Griffin trims. The latter is our pick of the range on the regular Mokka, because it comes with all of the kit you’re likely to need – including 17in alloy wheels, a 7.0in touchscreen infotainment system and a reversing camera – for a reasonable price.

The addition of a mild hybrid model means the Mokka now matches its closest rival, the Ford Puma, in offering drivers who want to stick with combustion power a greener option. And with prices starting from £25,800, the Mokka Hybrid undercuts the Puma slightly on price.

Neither car can go as far on electric power as our small SUV champion, the Lexus LBX, however. That model is a full hybrid, and isn’t that much more expensive to buy, at £29,995.

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