The Opel Ampera passed an important milestone Friday, April 23, when the first pre-production Model Year 2012 Ampera rolled off the line at GM’s Pre-Production Operations assembly line in Warren, Michigan.
Assembly workers will build more pre-production Amperas in the coming months. These pre-production vehicles will not be sold at dealerships, but used instead for testing and validating the production intent design as well as developing the final vehicle software and controls.
Engineers in Europe and the United States also use them to tune the vehicle’s overall driving experience. Some of these Amperas will have very short lives as they will be used in safety and structural integrity testing.
“We’re right on target for producing the Ampera for European markets later next year,” said Andrew Farah, Vehicle Chief Engineer for the Ampera “There’s still work to be done, but being able to drive an Opel Ampera off our pre-production line is a great accomplishment for the teams here and in Europe.”
The Opel Ampera extended-range electric vehicle delivers up to 60 kilometers (40 miles) of pure electric driving before an engine-generator kicks in to sustain the battery charge and seamlessly extend the range to more than 500 kilometers (300 miles).
The Opel/Vauxhall Ampera shares its extended-range electric vehicle propulsion system with the Chevrolet Volt.
The battery can be charged by plugging the vehicle’s on-board charge system into a standard household outlet. It is scheduled to go on sale end 2011.[wzslider height=”400″ lightbox=”true”]
