Opel Ampera

[drees]

Honestly, I think with a 100-120m EV range and an extender cars like the volt and karma would be a great balance on the pricing and capability. I know Tesla will never put a generator in their cars though. I may have missed it, but did you 100% cancel your S reservation?

I've always thought a neat concept would be this:

20-30 kWh battery pack
5 kg Propane range extender (holds 460k BTU or 127 kWh of energy - think BBQ tank)
15 kW Propane fuel-cell - 50-60% efficient - so adds 60+ kWh of range

One might be able to get the weight of the range extender down to 100 lbs - so the weight penalty would be minimal. Make the tank removable so you don't have to lug it around when you don't need it and it's easier to fill up. You can also use the propane to provide heat in the winter.

Now about getting something like that small enough to fit into your car... I still like the idea of a small trailer - built properly it could reduce aero drag for those long trips and also provide room for additional storage capacity.

[dpeilow]

[ManuVince]

A nice review of the Ampera from Top Gear (yes you read it right):
Vauxhall Ampera driven full road test car review - BBC Top Gear - BBC Top Gear

[dpeilow]

Top Gear magazine/website always gives decent reviews, it's pretty much a seperate team to the TV show.

Coming back from the Le Mans 24 Hours yesterday (where hybrids came 1 and 2), look what I followed into the channel tunnel...




...he'd had the car two weeks, so we swapped stories and I was able to teach him a few things in the menus.

[dpeilow]

Here's the print review that The Conway Column: an unlikely electric car convert referred to:




I've never snagged my shirt and if anything, I find the brakes a bit too strong at slow speed.

[widodh]

Top Gear magazine/website always gives decent reviews, it's pretty much a seperate team to the TV show.

Coming back from the Le Mans 24 Hours yesterday (where hybrids came 1 and 2), look what I followed into the channel tunnel...



...he'd had the car two weeks, so we swapped stories and I was able to teach him a few things in the menus.

Nice!

In the last two days I spotted a Volt and 2 Ampera's here in town.

The Ampera seems to be selling pretty well, the tax incentive on the car is really high.

[TEG]

Here's the print review that The Conway Column: an unlikely electric car convert referred to:
...I find the brakes a bit too strong at slow speed.

Brake behavior (getting a bit grabby at low speeds) is a LEAF complaint too.
As is overly thick A-pillars. I guess maybe they do that for safety reasons with the steeply raked windscreen (AKA windshield.)

When he said you could get 60-65MPG going to/from Scotland was that assuming a full EV charge before starting, and a full EV charge at the destination?

Highway MPG solely on petrol isn't nearly that good, right?

[mcornwell]

I see 38-40 MPG while on the gas engine in my wife's Volt, but I from reading posts on gm-volt.com, others can get as high as 50.

[dpeilow]

Yes I think you'd need to start with a full charge and some reasonable plugging in at stops to get that mpg (assuming he means Scotland from London).


By the way, yesterday I passed 3000 miles two months to the hour after getting the car...



(yes I was giving it some beans the night before.)


...and 112 mpg.




As of tonight I'm at 113 mpg and it goes up 1 or 2 a day now that I can get regular charging at work.

[dpeilow]

Our Cars: Vauxhall Ampera - June - What Car?