The Opel Ampera e — which is a clone of the Chevy Bolt — will start at $33,650 in Norway. That price includes 17 inch alloy wheels, heated leather steering wheel, electronic climate control, IntelliLink infotainment with 10.2-inch touch screen, rain sensor, Opel Eye, Opel OnStar, and Bi-Xenon headlights. The price is $3,500 less than expected by potential customers in Norway.
Opel Ampera e. Credti: BilNorge.no
Options will include a comfort package with Bose sound system, leather seats, and heated rear seats for $2,000 and a driver assistance package with automatic sign recognition, lane departure warning, rear view camera, and advanced parallel parking for an additional $1,500. Several dealers in Norway took deposits for the car even before the pricing was known. The price with all options is what Norwegians expected the base price of the car to be.
Because of Norway’s aggressive electric car incentives, it is a leader among European nations when it comes to the percentage of electric or plug-in hybrids on its roads. They are the reason the Ampera e will be offered first to customers in Norway this June before sales are expanded to other nations with significant green car credentials.
With a 60 kWh battery and a stated range of 500 kilometers in the admittedly generous European testing cycle, the Ampera e has more range than any other electric car for sale to European buyers other than the Tesla Model S and Model X. Range in the new testing protocol that will be introduced across Europe soon will be more like 380 kilometers. What is important to customers in Norway, though, is that range should not be less than 300 kilometers (180 miles), even in winter.
The Ampera e is engineered and produced in the US. General Motors has not set any expected sales targets but Norwegian news site VG is suggesting that 2,000 to 2,500 may find there way to that country. With the Ampera e’s long range and lower than anticipated price, VG thinks the demand will exceed the supply.
“We have been aware that the production volume from the start would be limited. Therefore we have decided to introduce Ampera e in countries where the infrastructure for electric cars is already in place, or who have shown a clear desire to become a leading supplier of electric mobility. That means we are introducing the car in Norway first. Then will come Germany, the Netherlands, France, and Switzerland,” says Peter Christian Küspert, vice president of sales and service market for Opel. “Production is planned and allocated month by month and week by week,” adds Bernt G. Jessen, Opel CEO of Norway.
Source: VG.no Hat tip to Leif Hansen Translation by Google
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