General Motors is confident that it will sell every one of the first batch of range-extended Ampera models that it can produce in its first year on sale in the European market, GM president of Europe Nick Reilly says.
GM intends to produce 15,000 models of the Ampera- also known as the Chevrolet Volt- in its first 12 months of sales across Europe. Most-Nick says- will be headed for the UK, when the model launches in 2012, as demand for the model is proving particularly buoyant over here.
Speaking in an interview with Headlineauto.com, however, Mr Reilly added a note of caution: “What we don’t know is the size of the market and we won’t know that for two to three years."
What is known is that when the Ampera does come to Europe it will have an additional ‘hold’ mode that the current Chevrolet Volt doesn’t have in the U.S.
It’s a feature that allows the driver to hold the charge of the battery by using the range-extending petrol engine until he or she wants to switch to pure EV power – inside the London congestion zone for example.
"It’s a feature I wish we could have here," said Tony Posawatz, vehicle line director for Chevrolet Volt. He has been driving a prototype fitted with the ‘hold’ button and is knocked out by its potential.
In its regular US mode, the Volt drives emission-free for the first 35 miles using a full charge of electricity stored in its 16-kWh lithium-ion battery.
Until a decision is made later this year on where else Volt/Ampera will be built, all cars will be produced at GM’s sprawling Detroit-Hamtramck plant that started production 25 years ago. High demand from UK consumers could help sway a decision by GM to expand production of the Volt to Vauxhall’s UK plant at Ellesmere Port.
