FULL-TIME ELECTRIC DRIVE

+ Click to Enlarge DIMLY LIT: Opel's teaser shot of the Ampera plug-in hybrid deliberately reveals little detail. As soon as we see a better picture, so will you.

January 28, 2009

Opel's plug-in hybrid, scheduled to debut at the 2009 Geneva auto show in March, will be known as the Ampera.

The five-door, four-seat hatch will be the first European car with GM's Voltec technology, which differs from first-generation hybrids such as the Toyota Prius in that it is always driven by its electric motor.

For trips of up to 60km it will run only on lithium-ion battery power charged by a standard 220-volt plug. For longer distances the car will drive on electricity generated by a small internal-combustion engine.

That will suit the daily driving schedule of most European customers, 80 percent of whom travel less than 50km a day.

GM Europe chief marketing officer Alain Visser said: "With the Ampera, Opel will be the first European automaker to provide customers several hundred kilometres of non-stop electric driving."