So farewell then, Ampera. This innovative – and, in its home nation as the Chevrolet Volt, highly controversial – car will be discontinued in its Vauxhall and Opel guises towards the end of the year.
General Motors has already teased an image of the second-generation Chevy Volt, which is set to make its debut at the Detroit motor show next January. But Europe won’t be getting the second-generation version of GM’s extended-range electric car.
I’ll be sorry to see it go. I ran a Volt on Autocar’s long-term fleet for a year and became a huge fan.
Opel Ampera-e breaks cover at Paris motor show
I loved the smooth and torquey electric drive, the single-speed transmission, the superb seats and driving position, the huge load space when the rear seats were folded and the car’s excellent motorway performance and arrow-straight handling.
I could also live with the occasionally intrusive engine when it kicked in to power the generator when the car was static, but it was also considerably smoother and more relaxing to drive than many self-proclaimed ‘executive’ models.
To me, the Volt and Ampera felt like the future. Unfortunately, not nearly enough buyers agreed with me.
GM Europe hasn’t totally given up on electric power, however. When GME boss Karl-Thomas Neumann recently confirmed the demise of the Ampera, he said: “We see e-mobility as an important part of the mobility of tomorrow and we will continue to drive down costs and affordability.
"After the eventual run-out of the current-generation Ampera, we’ll introduce a successor product in the electric vehicle segment.”
Decoded, that probably means GM will launch a much cheaper, battery-only electric car, possibly related to a new generation of the Chevrolet Spark electric supermini.
Unlike the Ampera, however, which was a serious attempt at an electric car that could be relied on as an only car, the next GME electric car is likely to be much closer to the Renault Zoe. In other words, a second, urban car to use for shorter journeys.
As much as you can argue that the Ampera was clever and desirable (it was the 2012 European Car of the Year, after all), there is no arguing with the sales figures.
In 2012, its first full year on sale, 5300 examples found homes across Europe. Last year, however, that dropped below 3200 units, while this year’s sales are on schedule to fall well short of the 1000 mark.
The early adopters have adopted, the business buyers have bought in and demand has slowed to a sub-100-unit-per-month crawl.
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Never Knew it existed!
In the UK everyone has heard of the Prius, Nissan Leaf , Mitsubishi Outlander and BMW i3. In TV, they showed a hydrogen power car from Hyundai.
I only spotted one because it came up in the used car sales market!
Price and Brand
The main reason it didn't sell well (in my opinion) is brand. At the price, a lot of drivers might have chosen it if it were a BMW, Merc or Audi. I am not convinced the 2 rear seats was the issue - realistically you can't get three in the back of a 3 series. As for looks I get more compliments on how smart it is than any car I have owned (including previous sports cars!) - it is certainly far more stylish than the i3 or Leaf.
Running it through my own company I will make considerable savings over 5 years (with lifetime warrany) create less local polution and it is a joy to drive, particularly in traffic.
Paul Roddick
A GOOD FAREWELL TO A GOOD CAR.