Hot electric Vauxhalls are back on the menu

Hot Vauxhalls are making a comeback, as the company’s performance-focused GSE sub-brand is set to return in 2025 as a flagship fully electric range with a fresh new logo.

The GSE (or ‘Grand Sport Electric’) badge was last revived in 2022 with plug-in hybrid variants of the Astra, Astra Sports Tourer and Grandland. The relaunch will ditch the current hybrids in favour of next-generation, battery-electric GSE models, which Vauxhall hopes will represent the peak of its all-electric ambitions.

Florian Huettl, CEO of Vauxhall, said: “The GSE sub-brand stands for particularly dynamic, exhilarating, and emotional Vauxhall models. In 2025, we will take the next important step. The new GSE models will be fully electric. This demonstrates how powerful, exciting, and inspiring battery-electric mobility can be."

Vauxhall has yet to properly reveal any new cars, but teases a sporty new Mokka in the brand’s eye-catching GSE relaunch trailer. The short video promises drivers fierce dynamics and “the proverbial OMG feeling” behind the wheel.

As well as getting a sportier look, added performance and bucket seats, GSE owners can look forward to “a chassis setup that directly integrates the driver and offers exciting driving pleasure”. We’re also told that the forthcoming hot electric Vauxhalls are designed to be stable when braking, cornering and at high speeds on the motorway.

The revival of the GSE sub-brand is part of Vauxhall’s wider ambition to go fully electric, as the brand aims to phase out new combustion models by 2028.

Vauxhall currently has an Astra GSe (with a small e) in its line-up , but the new GSE (with a big e) models promise more of a sporting focus with more performance and an emphasis on handling, too.

Vauxhall’s hot heritage goes back to GTE models of the 80s as well as GSi and VXR models.