[selidori]

Hi all,
i'm Selidori from Italy, owner of Opel Ampera (a cloned EU version of Volt Gen1) from july 2016.

 

[jbakerjonathan]

Welcome Selidori. Tell us about your car and what your impressions are.

 

[selidori]

Hi jbakerjonathan,
I've have buyed Opel Ampera (aka Vahuall Ampera, as same than Chevrolet Volt1 2011).
She is highest mileange (135.000km = 83900 miles) of 91 italians Ampera.

First thing is very impressive and interesting there isn't lose autonomy: in last summer wiht one charge I've run for 52miles! (87km) Not bad for an 4years old electric car.



After 18month my impression is the same but I'm sad when I realized this cars has been abandoned by vendor.
In effect she was unsuccesiful for 4 negative point (that realize so few sells in Italy (and also Europe)):
- a few range
- just a slow charge
- so lower!
- too much expensive (and Opel in EU is a non luxury brand, so as the same price as Ampera you can find a luxury Bmw; Mercdes, Lexus, ecc)

In Italy we have just first version, in Switzerland also My15 (with ADAS function, and nothing else).
Never arrived in europe second version (Volt2) and very low numer of full electric 2017 Ampera-e.

 

[hellsop]

View attachment 147618

I am sad that you didn't use a picture of the part of the Ampera that I like better than the Volt: the front end. Others here will argue, but the face of the Ampera is beautiful to me in comparison to the Volt, which seems designed to blend in with every other hybrid and hide in shame.

After 18month my impression is the same but I'm sad when I realized this cars has been abandoned by vendor.
In effect she was unsuccesiful for 4 negative point (that realize so few sells in Italy (and also Europe)):
- a few range
- just a slow charge
- so lower!
- too much expensive (and Opel in EU is a non luxury brand, so as the same price as Ampera you can find a luxury Bmw; Mercdes, Lexus, ecc)

The car is very low, yes, and the airdam scrapes endlessly. It can be removed without much effect, fortunately. No one has found much difference in efficiency without it, at least slower than about 120kmh.

The slow charge and small range using electric power comes from the design. The design primarily was to make a car that can be a car without compromise, and *also* electric. 95 percent of daily drives fit within that range, so it should be good for most people most of the time. For all the rest, the car shrugs and turns on the petrol engine. No bother, no worrying, just suddenly "whirrrrr" and you keep going. Similarly, the charging speed was chosen so that it meets most people's needs over a night, and there was basically no public charging available. Since all the charging would happen at home, there was little need for it to finish faster than 10 hours, and if an unusual need occured....? Petrol. Whirrrrr and you go. The car does not limit you. Good enough.

Today, now, of course, that's not good enough. Twice as much battery would make people happier, for the same cost. Charging twice as fast would make people happier, because they could use the public charging that now exists. But that is now, not 2008 and 2009, when the designing was done.

 

[FI Spyder]

The Volt is expensive compared to ICE cars because it has the ICE and EV technology in one car. The price will come down as time progresses as will the charge time and the distance will go up (there are new battery technologies in the labs). But for now (car was designed 2008 with production started in 2011). The public did not embrace it as fast as expected and GM did little advertising preferring to spend the ad budget on money making trucks and SUV's. As for the short battery run time it has the longest of any PHEV, you can't compare it to EV's run times as they have no back up. Surprised there are no Gen 2's there but makes sense due to lower than expected volumes and may be waiting for next iteration (a version of the Buick SUV PHEV/EV).