Opel to Launch its First All-Electric Car in 2017
February 11 2016 - 7:09AM
Dow Jones News
By Hendrik Varnholt
BOCHUM, Germany--Opel AG, the German arm of General Motors
Co.(GM), will launch production of Opel's first all-electric car in
2017, a variant of the Chevy Bolt, GM Chief Executive Mary Barra
said Thursday.
Opel said it would provide information on pricing and driving
range at a later date. In the U.S., however, GM has said the Bolt
would be priced at roughly $38,000 and have a range of about 200
miles.
"The new Opel Ampera-e will open the road to electric mobility
by breaking down the barriers of high price and short driving
range," said Opel head Karl-Thomas Neumann at an auto symposium in
Bochum.
Although the major German car makers offer hybrid and electric
cars, domestic demand has been sluggish. Officially, the country
aims to put 1 million electric vehicles on the road by 2020, a
questionable goal considering there were just 30,000 at the end of
2015.
Car makers and the government have discussed various ideas on
how to stimulate demand, including offering cash incentives and
setting up more charging stations, but have yet to agree to a
plan.
Opel, part of GM Europe along with its sister company Vauxhall,
stopped production of the Ampera-e's hybrid predecessor in 2014.
Including Vauxhall, Opel delivered 1.1 million cars in 2015 and had
a European market share of 5.8%.
-Write to Hendrik Varnholt at hendrik.varnholt@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
February 11, 2016 06:54 ET (11:54 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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