Vauxhall: US Volt halt will not affect UK launch

Ampera charge still on

By Tony Smith, 5th March 2012

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Car Week

Vauxhall has denied that parent company General Motors' move to shut down Volt production for five weeks will adversely affect the e-car's UK release.

The production suspension, which will begin on 16 March, will have "absolutely no effect" on the UK launch, a Vauxhall spokeswoman told Reg Hardware.

Vauxhall will launch the Volt - called the Ampera over here - at the end of March, she said, and promised the plug-in hybrid will be "in UK showrooms in May".

By that time, the Volt will be back in production.

GM is halting production because it has 3000-odd Volts standing idle, awaiting orders from dealers. It sold 1023 Volts in the US in February - it's unlikely to sell that many Amperas in the UK.

Here, the car costs £29,995, though that's after knocking off the government's £5000 e-car grant contribution. The standard on-road pack includes a DAB radio, 7in touchscreen controller, alloys and cruise control. ®

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COMMENTS

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All Reader Comments (8)

Highly Rated

Posted Monday 5th March 2012 12:57 GMT

trafalgar

Expensive or not?

Just wondering if this is expensive for this type of car (vs an Astra)? Should it be cheaper?

Is it because of the batteries that this this is relatively expensive?

(For £28K+ BMW 3 series ED saloon)

Posted Tuesday 6th March 2012 10:50 GMT

Anonymous Coward

Re: Get A Diesel

Though check that your normal usage pattern matches the assumptions of the manufacturers first ... the DPF (Diesel Particulate Filter) systems needed to meet recent emission standards on many diesels assume regular driving at 50mph+ which allows the particulates that have accumulated in the filters to burn off. Lots of reports of people who didn't know this buying a diesel, using it on shortish urban journeys and getting an unpleasant surprise when warning lights come on and the dealer explains that the filter system has become totally clogged and they need to spend many £100s to get it all replaced and also, unless they change their driving patterns, the problem will keep on repeating.

Posted Monday 5th March 2012 22:02 GMT

Van

Re: Expensive or not?

Batteries, motor, drive train, controller, wiring looms wont be as mass produced as regular parts and research and development would owe them more at the moment.

In the past, electric cars were actually subsidised.

Car dealers make very little profit on each unit, instead they are rewarded for volume and make most profit on after sales.

So no it shouldnt be cheaper. If Apple wanted to make cars, they would price them at least 30% more expensive than this to keep with their business model.