European Volt/Ampera already has 7000 confirmed orders

On the Vauxhall website it says prices starting from £37,250

Vauxhall Ampera | Extended-Range Electric Vehicle

 

Its not just the petrol prices, its also the city congestion tax issues which I understand in many places is up to 10EU /day. With the "hold mode", users can be pure EV in the city center.

Not sure it would ever make as much sense as a cab as you'd put more than 30-40 miles on it per day and the mid-recharge some get at work would not really help when your work is on the road.

It will be nice to see US cars selling well in EU. Though it makes one wonder about shutting down production for 5-weeks when they have open orders. Then again GM management has always been confusing. At least they have good engineers!

 

...better Volt success in EU is a nice possibility. Not only is gaso expensive, but there is some preference for diesel which hurts Prius. At least Volt can be thought of as EV and a small sporty car. Also some trend to spend more on vehicles re: care maintenance etc. Also lots of spare nuke power from France at night. Not sure if all of the above true for Grumpy's UK area, but I am thinking Volt fits German/Austrian market tastes.

 

Don't count your sales until your orders are hatched.

 

It will be (not) interesting to watch these sales in european ground.
Portugal has just dropped EV tax incentives, and never held PHEV in that group.
So it will be a "base price" war to get sales out of a PHEV and people not buying a diesel.
PIP Prius will start deliveries in July, I guess will face the same problem.

 

I think that there is a very good chance of success for the Ampera - you take the significantly higher gas prices and the payback/break even period will make more sense in Europe.

I have not seen hard and fast evidence, but my gut would say that Europeans would typically drive less and have shorter commutes than Americans - can any of you across the Pond comment on this - if true it would mean that the 40ish miles of EV driving would better fit the Euro lifestyle.

As others have said the fact that it is limited to 4 seats will limit its appeal - if they could ever flatten out the battery pack and graft a body like a Ford C-Max onto the Volt power train then it would have widespread appeal.

 

There is a lot more different between Europe and the US than just the fuel rates, but even this limited angle is not obvious:

I am converting into US$ ...
electricity (per GC) in the UK is 7 cents a mile for the Volt
The alternative car is usually a 40 MPG diesel that costs 20 cents a mile
So savings are 13 cents a mile

Realistically, miles over 10k annual (maybe less) are petrol anyway in a Volt, so the annual fuel savings is $1300

Barring future proof, I depreciate the Volt down to $0 by 10 years of ownership so net fuel savings is $13,000.

A diesel starts out at least $13,000 less to purchase than a Volt even with generous Volt subsidy, has a useful life greater than 10 years, and gains opportunity costs on the purchase price differential. The diesel is a known quantity, while the Volt owner buys uncertainty.

I gather GM thought it best to market the car to people who pay city congestion charges. I think they are right. It is a tacit admission that fuel savings alone are not an "economic" argument that will sway buyers.

 

Is anybody aware of a Volt chat site, I'd like to hear the opinions of Volt owners both here and abroad. :cheer2:

 

GM-Volt: Chevy Volt Electric Car Site

Opel Ampera Energy Hub: home

 

I am lucky in that my commute is about 20 miles each way but round here, a lot of people commute towards London and a trip of 60 to 70 miles each way would not be unusual.

 

Crumbs, that's not very far at all.

A lot of people use the train for that but for those working in the M25 corridor, the train is not so convenient so a car it is (or motorbike).

 

ampera 45.000 euro here
and thats already with the ECO deduction ( like no special car buy tax, you still pay the normal tax of 19% )
base prius 25.000 euro. ( also without the car buy tax )

btw
gas is almost at 1,90 euro( 5,5 dollar per gallon ) per liter ( or 0,26 gallon of fuel ) and maybe will hit 2 euro per liter this summer when gas price always is higher
elec = 25 euro cent per kwh day and 17 eurocents night.

 

Thanks for the number-crunching, makes it very insightful!
In Holland, the roadtax of some 1500-2000$ a year for a Volt-size car on diesel would easily tip the scale the other way round. The Volt would be free for the first 5 years, but what happens after this is anyone's guess...

You saw and fixed it already
FlyingWhiteDutchman's numbers immediately triggered me, as I'm awaiting the day I can proudly boast on this US forum that we're paying 10$ a gallon. . We're darn close.

Very few, I tried getting a job elsewhere, but did not succeed.
And in all fairness, when I got ill, I was glad to be here as our NHS system is not too shabby But that would have been the same in pretty much any European and quite a few Asian countries. Just glad it didn't happen in the US. Don't know the system well enough to say for sure, but a Canadian colleague moved to the US and got his savings wiped out when his son got ill.

Are those numbers from a year or two ago? The night price, for no understandable reason, has crept up to the day price to within 2 cents. There really is NO use whatsoever anymore having a double (more expensive) meter, but changing it costs money too... And at least my current (double) meter runs backwards when my solarpanels are doing their job. When getting a new meter, they would probably force a new meter on me. Even though I would be entitled to a free registration of grid-fed kWh's, I'd rather not have my energycompany involved in any way since they may start wining about the transportcosts and taxes that I am getting refunded on grid-fed kWh's.

 

there are so many these days
one is cheaper on day and other on night

when you charge a PHEV duing the night its better to have a double meter ;-)

i also have solar panels but i have the new meter! with 4 counters. 1 day out and 1 day IN and 1 night out and 1 in.
what do you mean wining about transport cost?

then i have 25cents per KWH and i put back 1 kwh i get 25 cents less right?