GM Debuts its All-Electric Hybrid in Europe
GENEVA - GM’s Adam Opel GmbH subsidiary presented the lithium-ion battery powered hatchback Ampera on Tuesday at the Geneva Motor Show, where electric-powered vehicles emerged as one way to persuade environmentally aware consumers to buy new cars during the global recession.
Other automakers — including Chrysler, Mitsubishi and Ford — also touted their plans for cars equipped with electric motors as the industry both seeks to overcome the current crisis that has decimated sales and meet increasingly tough environmental and carbon emission standards.
Only European giant VW bucked the trend, saying its answer to the electric car would come out “in the coming decade.”
European drivers could be silently cruising around in the Ampera by the end of 2011 — up to 40 miles per plug-in, augmented by another 300 miles of extended range from a gasoline engine. The car is the European relative to GM’s Volt plug-in hybrid set to debut in the United States next year.
The Ampera presented in Geneva was a white four-door sedan with a hatchback — and a set of front headlights that created a menacing, masculine impression. An Opel official demonstrated how the car could easily be plugged into any household electrical supply.
“This is the kind of game-changing technology that the auto industry needs to respond to energy and environmental challenges,” President of GM Europe Carl Peter Forster said.
Source (article): MSNBC
Source (picture): GMVOLT.COM
