Opel announced today that it will reveal its first electric car - the Opel Ampera - at this year's Geneva Motor Show. Up until this moment the company has released just this teaser image of the new Opel Ampera.
The Opel Ampera will feature GM's new Voltec technology and will be a five-door, four-seat vehicle. Using the new electric technology, the Opel Ampera will run, for short trips of up to 60 km, just with the help of the lithium-ion batteries. for the longer journeys, the car will be powered by electricity generated by a small combustion engine.
The company will release more information on the Opel Ampera on March 3rd.
Opel Press Release:
Opel has announced Ampera as the name of its revolutionary extended-range electric car. The five-door, four-seat Opel Ampera will be revealed at the 2009 Geneva Motor Show (March 5-15).
“With the Ampera, Opel will be the first European automobile manufacturer to provide customers several hundred kilometers of non-stop electric driving,” said Alain Visser, GM Europe Chief Marketing Officer.
GM’s ground-breaking electric propulsion technology, called Voltec, operates differently from other advanced propulsion systems. For short trips up to 60 km, the Ampera will run only on lithium-ion battery power charged via a standard 230v outlet. For longer distances, the car will continue to drive on electricity that is generated by a small internal combustion engine.
The Ampera will be well-suited to the daily driving schedule of most European customers. For example, approximately 80 percent of German drivers travel less than 50 km daily.
Additional information on the Opel Ampera will be released March 3 at the Geneva Motor Show.
