Opel Ampera Concept: European Plug-In Electric Car
Motoring Channel Staff - 28/January/2009
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Opel Ampera
Opel Insignia wins 2009 European Car of the Year
GM Europe's president Carl-Peter Forster lofts
the Euro COTY trophy like he won a running race
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Rüsselsheim, Germany – Chevrolet prefers Volts, but it seems Opel prefers Amps. General
Motor's highly lauded German branch, Opel - fresh off winning European
Car of the Year for the Insignia - will unveil the Ampera Concept in
March. The new Ampera Concept car will be one of Opel's star attractions at
the upcoming Geneva Auto Salon in early March, showing off an
interesting new design that differs slightly from the
American-destined Chevrolet Volt. Using the same internals as the Chevrolet Volt, which is one of the most-talked about electric cars and is due
on sale in 2011 in America and 2012 in Australia (badged as a Holden),
the Opel Ampera Concept is an early look at what could be Europe's
first plug-in electric vehicle (EV). Alain Visser, GM
Europe's chief marketing officer confirmed that the vehicle
would be built, but didn't give a timeline. "With the Ampera, Opel will be the first European automobile
manufacturer to provide customers several hundred kilometers of
non-stop electric driving," said Visser. Based
on the same EV technology and platform that powers the Chevrolet Volt
(called Voltec) and which is also expected to power several other
plug-in EVs like the Cadillac Converj,
the Opel Ampera can travel 60 kilometers (40 miles) on battery
power before it needs to use a small petrol engine to regenerate
its massivelithium-ion batteries. At no time does the small
petrol engine power the wheels - it only recharges the batteries which
energise a high torque electric motor. New electric vehicle
infrastructure, such as rapid battery recharge stations, will also
enable the cars to run further on electricity. The Opel
Ampera is a 5-door, 4-seat vehicle and using GM's Voltec platform,
which can recharge its monstrous lithium-ion battery packs power
by plugging into a standard electricity socket, such as in the
garage. The Opel Ampera's main difference to the Chevrolet Volt
is it's appearance, showing off a small 5-door hatchback body style
that would have been decided upon to suit European markets. From
the small teaser sketch it released, it appears Opel has crafted a good
looking car. The only thing Opel needs to do now is to change the
awful name...
In other Opel news, the General Motor's-owned company took out the European "Car of the Year 2009" award. Opel's Insignia mid-sized luxury car took out the award, which was accepted by GM Europe's president Carl-Peter Forster. The
Insignia took out the top spot, gaining a total of 321 points, edging
out the second place getter, the Ford Fiesta, by just one point. Third place was awarded to the Volkswagen Golf VI with 223 points. Related Links:
- Australian Electric Car Network (2012)
- Chevrolet Volt (2011)
- Lexus HS 250h (2010)
- Electric Cars: Detroit Goes Green (2009)
- Toyota Prius Hybrid (2009)
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