The Vauxhall Ampera is the UK version of the US market Chevrolet Volt
The gateman at Vauxhall's Ellesmere Port plant in Merseyside was confused. He mistook the bog-standard Astra diesel escort car for the innovative petrol/electric Ampera, which was making its first visit to the Vauxhall plant which could be in line to build it.
The Ampera is the same extended-range battery car as the Chevrolet Volt, which goes on sale in the US this year, but the Vauxhall has different but equally aerodynamic badging, grille and lower bodywork.
The Ampera arrives in mainland Europe next year in left-hand drive with Opel badges and in right-hand drive, Vauxhall-branded form in the UK in 2012.
As well as being a potential blueprint for a new generation of environmental family cars, the Ampera might join the battery-electric Nissan Leaf as confirmation of Britain's role as a high-tech car maker.
So while this Astra-based five-door hatchback looks only slightly weird its driveline is innovative, using the hybrid's combination of electricity and combustion energy yet taking them a step further.
Owners charge the Ampera's LG-Chem under-floor battery using standard UK 240-volt mains supply in about three hours to give a 40-mile battery range.
When that charge is exhausted (the battery only cycles half of its capacity in the interests of a 10-year/150,000-mile life), the engine starts and drives a generator to continue the journey - but not recharge the battery. For 95 per cent of European drivers, that 40-mile, electric-only range will cover their daily driving needs.
I was invited to take part in a demonstration of the car's production readiness, driving an early prototype from Birmingham to the factory in Ellesmere Port that hopes to build it.
Starting at Vauxhall's Lookers dealership, I negotiated a series of urban junctions and dual carriageways before joining the M6 North. In battery mode the Ampera is quiet, easy to manoeuvre and accelerates speedily enough to disguise its 1.6-ton kerb weight.
Unlike hybrid rivals from Toyota and Honda, the Ampera has a solidly built and attractive interior, with leather upholstery and instruments and switches from last year's European Car of the Year, the Vauxhall/Opel Insignia.
The wraparound dashboard is distinctive and attractive, although the huge white gear lever looks borrowed from a Boeing 747. All in all, the Ampera is comfortable, classy and commodious enough for four adults with a small amount of luggage in the slightly compromised boot space.
Accelerating up the motorway slip road, the Ampera charges hard and deceptively quickly up to 50mph, but by then the single-speed electric motor's flat torque curve has begun a nose dive and acceleration at high speeds is poor.
The 0-62mph time of 9 seconds and top speed of 100mph are an indication of this - most family hatchbacks with that sort of sprint capability will have a top speed of nearer 130mph.
General Motors is working on the problem and this autumn plans to unveil a mechanical direct-drive from the engine to the front wheels through the existing twin-clutch planetary gearbox. This would reduce the energy losses of turning petrol power into electricity to drive the car at high speeds, and would also give the Ampera more spritely overtaking performance.
GM is also considering an "electric-only" button so drivers can save their 40-mile battery range for use in restricted urban areas.
Noise levels are low at motorway speeds, although you can hear the engine working hard when you floor the throttle and there's a fair bit of wind noise on this very early car with ill-fitting panels. Again, the ride is acceptable given the hard, low-rolling resistance tyres fitted and while the steering feels artificial it is well weighted and direct.
With the battery mounted low and centrally in the bodyshell, the handling is predictable, if a little stodgy. The tyres give up the ghost early and soon after the accompanying engineer reminds you that you are driving a priceless engineering prototype.
The brakes are good, but like Honda's new CR-Z hybrid they rely on an electronic deceleration map to modulate the friction brakes and recharging. The result is a strong set of anchors, but a strange-feeling pedal.
That's it for the rest of the major controls because the driveline is totally automatic, with just a Low setting for the transmission which increases the recharging capacity to a peak of 30kW.
No one disputes that electric power is a technology of the future, but there are different ways to skin the cat. While the Ampera is still flawed in places and expensive, it offers the singular advantage of a real-world range and performance.
You could drive this car to the shops or to Moscow and it's not going to leave you stranded by the side of the road. Wouldn't it be even better if it were built in Britain?
The race to build the Ampera
Ellesmere Port is Vauxhall's only car factory in the UK since the closure of the Luton Vectra plant. Its 2,000 production staff make the Astra five-door hatchback, the Astra van and, from this year, the new Astra Sports Tourer estate.
It is one of three European plants that produces the Astra (the others are Bochum-Laer in Germany and Gliwice in Poland) and there is stiff competition between them to build the battery-electric Ampera, which is based on the Astra chassis known as Delta II.
Various General Motors panjandrums have praised the production efficiency and quality of the plant in the past, but it's also isolated from an electric component supplier base, with a sterling-based wage cost structure which is by turns an advantage and a drawback.
Tony Francavilla, the plant manager, acknowledges that it could use a better component supplier base, but says its secret advantage in the race to build the Ampera is "British ingenuity".
"It's a key ingredient," he says. "During the economic downturn we've been training our workers and look at what they are making," he gestures at the Astra models running down the line.
"The Astra is the leader in retail sales in the UK and of that I am most proud. The public don't just want a good price like fleet managers, they sit in the vehicle and they want great workmanship and quality, and we are delivering.
"The Ampera is history in the making," he adds. "And although we've got plenty of work right now, we all want to build it."
THE FACTS
Tested: Vauxhall Ampera extended-range, battery-electric, five-door hatchback
Price/availability: Estimate: £30,000 to £35,000 with battery included/ On sale 2012.
Power/torque (estimated): 111kW (148bhp) electric motor, 74bhp, 1.4-litre petrol engine, 16kW/h lithium-ion battery.
Top speed: limited to 100mph
Acceleration: 0-62mph in 9sec
Fuel economy (Combined under EU calculation): 175mpg
CO2 emissions: 40g/km
VED band: A (free)
Verdict: Clever and highly promising idea with the potential to turn car-making upside down.
Source: Telegraph.co.uk
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