Vulture at the Wheel I wanted to like the Vauxhall VXR8, but I didn’t and I’m still not entirely sure why not. It’s very fast and has the magic ingredient I look for in a car: exclusivity. Not the you-can’t-afford-it kind of exclusivity, but a special kind of petrol-head, what’s-one-of-those? exclusivity. I used to own a VX220, which was a …

First Look Only the most ardent electric-vehicle advocate would argue that the current state of battery technology and absence of recharging infrastructure isn’t an impediment to the widespread adoption of the e-car. On paper, the new Vauxhall Ampera – the European version of the Chevrolet Volt – has the perfect answer to this problem: …

Car Week Reg Hardware Car Week What started out as a dribble in 2011 is becoming a deluge in 2012 as e-cars in the form of pure electrics, range extenders and plug-in hybrids capabilities start to become ever more common. Until we see a major breakthrough in battery tech, the day will belong to the plug-in hybrids and REs, but that’s …

Car Week Reg Hardware 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. …

Car Week Reg Hardware Car Week General Motors has temporarily halted the production of its Volt e-car. Late last week, the car giant admitted it was closing down assembly of new Volts on 16 March for a five-week period. Its reason: dealers have all the vehicles they need. In other words, too few folk are buying the $33,500 (£21,177 …

General Motors' Chevy Volt e-car does not sport a defective design, the US' National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has judged. This week the Administration closed its formal probe, launched in November 2011, into potential problems with the Volt's battery cooling kit. Past test prangs had exposed the possibility that …

Detroit Motor Show CES 2012 Week Vauxhall has priced up the Ampera, the e-car it'll be putting in showrooms later this year. The Ampera will set punters back £29,995, though that's after knocking off the government's £5000 e-car grant contribution. The car is the European version of the Chevrolet Volt already on sale in States. Vauxhall …

Last November we kicked off a competition to identify the radio frequencies used by various bits of kit around the modern home, and now we have a winner, and some explanatory notes. No one managed a clean sheet – of the 18 questions the maximum score was 16 and only a handful of readers managed that. But from the random hat we …

General Motors will show off what it calls the "production ready" Vauxhall Ampera at the Geneva Motor Show this week - even though the e-car won't actually go on sale here for another ten months. GM will price the Ampera at a whopping £33,995, though Brits will get £5000 of that paid by the government. And buyers won't have to …

First Looks The first left-hand drive pre-production examples of the Vauxhall/Opel Ampera extended-range e-car have arrived in the UK. To illustrate the benefits of range extension, one of them was driven from the Vauxhall Heritage Centre in Luton to the assembly plant in Ellesmere Port where Reg Hardware was on hand to take it for a spin …

Leccy Tech Insiders have poured scorn on media reports that Vauxhall is working on a city e-car that will use a version of the Ampera - aka the Chevy Volt - electric drive train minus the range extending 1.4l petrol engine. A source close to the company told Reg Hardware that Vauxhall is indeed considering the development of a city car …

'Leccy Tech General Motors Europe boss Carl-Peter Forster this week finally took the wraps off the final design of the Opel Ampera - aka the Chevrolet Volt - range-extended electric vehicle. GM Ampera GM's Ampera: Opel favoured over Vauxhall? Everything looks much as we expected from the various teaser shots that have been circulating …

'Leccy Tech The Chevy Volt looks set to be made in the UK at the Vauxhall production line at Ellesmere Port, it has been claimed. If the plan goes ahead, Volts could be flowing off the Merseyside production line early in 2011, Autocar magazine reports. GM Chevy Volt GM's Chevy Volt: set to ship under Vauxhall flag? Moles from General …

'Leccy Tech On a slightly smaller scale than the planned 'leccy infrastructure roll out Down Under, the British Government will this week announce it is planning to fork out £100m in order to test electric cars and vans in three cities. Details are vague at the moment, but the idea seems to be to invite tenders from car makers to supply …

HP and supermarket giant Sainsbury’s are asking Londoners to recycle IT kit they no longer use. Both firms want people to bring neglected desktops, laptops, fax machines, scanners and printers to Sainsbury’s Nine Elms store in Vauxhall, London this Saturday (6 September) between 11am and 4pm for recycling purposes. HP said it …

Vauxhall has developed an in-car safety system designed to alert drivers to roadside signs, or give them a ticking off when veering out of their lane. Vauxhall_FCS_01 Vauxhall's FCS lets you know when it spots a road sign The Front Camera System (FCS) relies on a wide-angle camera positioned between the windscreen and rear …