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The Vauxhall/Opel Ampera has been caught undisguised ahead of its public unveil next week. These spy pictures show the European version of the Chevrolet Volt at a GM facility in Germany.

The new Vauxhall Ampera, which will be built in Europe and could be made at the Ellesmere Port factory, will go on sale in the second half of 2011.

Because the Ampera is based on GM’s new Delta platform, used in the Chevrolet Cruze and the next Astra, GM has said it can be built at any factory equi...Read the full article

If they can make it handle like a conventional car and the pricing is right, they could be on to a winner.

What would be even better, is for it to be made in the UK and the government to do away with any company car tax on this and similar vehicles, boosting sales and production.

Well......  we can dream.....

Doesn't look too bad to me a big touch of Prius, but I guess that comes from the aerodynamics.  Most interested in the 176mpg, now is that imperial or US?

Also will be keen to see the 1st review for the Volt, something like this could save me £1,000 a year and I only commute 17 miles to get to work so it really could be a great car for a lot of people, could even use the savings to get a fun weekend car...

We have read about the Volt, and now the Ampera being capable of 176 mpg. Has anyone shown how? From what i understand it is battery powered mainly but with an engine as a generator for longer runs. I just dont see how this set up sudenly provides 3 times the efficiency of a conventional car, or are we assuming that most of the energy used is from an over night charge? Is the CO2 output from the electricity generation included in this figure? if it is, its hardly a fair way to make a comparison.

artill:

Is the CO2 output from the electricity generation included in this figure? if it is, its hardly a fair way to make a comparison.

 

Is the CO2 output from the refining of petrol/diesel taken into account when quoting the outputs currently?

No, therefore it is a completely fair comparison.

A conclusive reply!

It looks nice.

You'd have thought the 176 mpg would be purely from running the on board generator ( I hesitate to call it an engine as it doesn't drive the wheels directly) Otherwise the car could in theory run at an infinite number of miles per gallon on the short electricity only trips. No one quotes a Tesla at Infinity mpg as that would be daft.

The efficiency comes from running a small capacity petrol unit that runs at a constant speed. Combustion motors running at constant speed / loading can be made incredibly efficient, it is the changing revs and loads placed on current engines from acceleration / braking, hills etc that does the damage - you already know the best way of getting economy out of your current car is to run along the flat at about 50-60 mph in top gear. Same with this, the generator just stays at constant speed as its never connected to the wheels. 

Blimey... that looks amazing! I wonder what it would look like in black with those wheels....lovely!

 In my opinion this is the first good-looking hybrid. I am a little confused by the sizing though. Despite the Delta (Astra) platform, this appears to be more the size of the first Vectra. I realise that the Astra will probably be appreciably bigger than the current one but it looks an odd size. As a 20 year old this is the first hybrid car that appeals to my 'young' mind - I like the idea of saving the planet but this seems to be the first that (theoretically) will make some impact.

You wouldn't mistake that for anything else on the roads - front end looks great. We need a few more cars that break the mould and introduce some new looks, particularly if they also herald some new technology as well. maybe the future won't be so bad after all.........

WOW - that looks stunning! A car that actually looks futuristic but useable. If it makes it through to sale like that, i'd buy one. Nice one GM

It seems that at last somebody is going to produce a "green" car that the masses might be interested in.