Opel Ampera plug-in hybrid to drive to Geneva Motor Show

By Matt Brogan | February 26th, 2010

Opel Ampera production prototype number one has today received its initial charge of electricity from the newly installed charging station at Opel/Vauxhall’s European headquarters in Rüsselsheim, Germany.

The extended-range electric vehicle will use this first charge, stored in its 16kWh lithium-ion battery, to drive the initial stage of a 600km journey from the Rüsselsheim HQ to the Geneva Motor Show in Switzerland – all without emitting any CO2.

Driving Ampera number one is Opel/Vauxhall Director of Electric Vehicle Implementation, Mr Gherardo Corsini.

“I am really looking forward to putting a lot of miles on our first Ampera prototype during this maiden test on public roads,” said Mr Corsini.

“With 370Nm of instantaneous, electric torque under my right foot, it promises to be an interesting and almost silent drive to Geneva.”

When the battery’s charge is low (after around 65km), the Ampera’s petrol engine will kick-in to generate electricity for the remainder of the journey. This bypasses the need of a lengthy stop for recharging.

Series-production of the Opel Ampera is scheduled to begin at the end of 2011.

If you’d like to follow the Opel Ampera’s journey online, a live blog will begin this Sunday morning with regular updates about the journey from Rüsselsheim to Geneva. The blog can be found at:

www.opel.posterous.com or twitter.com/opelblogs

ABMPSV

Excellent! I will buy one for the right price.
http://www.insidetorque.com IT

Borrow a little war-paint lately?
Shak

Why doesn’t the volt look as goos as this. I want my Holden volt to loo like this, not some tarted up american mobile.

vid_ghost

+1 i hate the look of most american cars.. bring on the Euro Styling any day! USA not OK!

Andrew M

Just what I find as an interesting note is that this costs the same in electricity to run 65k’s, as a small diesel costs in diesel to run the same distance.

Dont get me wrong, I like the design, and I reckon this is the best proposition of a hybrid vehicle getting around, just that the case for these sort of vehicles looks a little silly when you look at it properly

Frenchie

What if you got solar panels/wind turbine?

Andrew M

Oh yeah I forgot solar panels and wind turbines were free and lasted forever

Shak

And what about diesel. How much more do you reckon we have of that left. Ind is free and so is the sun, so whay not make a small investment now and have free electricity all year round.(K.Rudd pays about $8000 for your solar panels so why not get them)

Andrew M

And what about diesel???
All im saying it that surprisingly an electric car is no cheaper to power, how many would have thought that???

Install K-Rudds solar panels???
You mean the chinese imported,dodgy installed, burn your house down and make a dodgy person rich quick panels???

Once again solar panels dont last forever, and yes, they do cost money.
10K isnt exactlly a “small investment” when a power bill might only be 300-400bucks.
The whole “energy” thing is a joke really.
When I needed to replace my conventional hot water system a couple of years back, I priced a heat pump against the conventional hotwater system. I was told “it will save you 60% off your hot water bill”. I did some quick sums and it worked out I would need to get 20 years out of the heat pump (unlikely) before I actually started to save money.
Even if the heat pump exceeded the expected lifespan, I would have still been better off putting the extra money in the bank earning interest.

Nothing that seems cheap/cheaper really is when you look at it
Andrew M

Oh and just to add about diesel apparently being scarce since you brought it up, ill tell you the metals needed for batteries is in greater short supply

HyundaiSmoke

I would so buy this if it had a Hyundai badge. Nice!
Nick K

This and the GM Volt look good until you realise that they are only 4 seaters due to the packaging constraints created by the T-Shaped battery pack. Also, the price in Australia is likely to be over $60,000.

$60,000 for a four seater small/medium car with only 4 seats? I don’t see many selling I’m afraid.

Once the Prius gets a Li-on battery and has plug in capabilities, you will have a 5 seater that does most of what this car does at around $10,000 to $20,000 less.

This car has promise and is more advanced than a Prius, however I need 5 seats and a price no more than $45K, less preferably… maybe the next generation?