- Highest European EV market share with 21% (Jan. - Oct. 2012)
- Ampera is segment leader in Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland
- Sales growth for entire EV market is slowing amid challenging conditions
Opel’s revolutionary and award winning electric car, the Ampera, is
still at the top of the electric passenger car league table in Europe
based on latest available sales figures (Jan. – Oct. 2012). The news
comes despite very challenging market conditions for the whole electric
vehicle market with car makers reporting lower EV sales growth figures
than predicted earlier this year. The Opel Ampera (“Car of the Year
2012”) enjoys more than 21 percent market share in the European EV
segment. It is likely to remain the overall leader of its segment for
the whole of 2012.
“The Ampera is still the dominant leader of the European electric
passenger car segment,” says Opel Vice President Sales, Marketing and
Aftersales, Alfred E. Rieck. “Considering that the demand of the EV
market is smaller than originally predicted by analysts and car makers,
we are extremely pleased that we have consolidated our leadership
position in the market.”
Ampera is top of several key European markets
The strong overall European market share of the Ampera is reflected
in its leadership position which has been consolidated in several
important European markets.
For example in the Netherlands its market share increased to 66%. In
Germany, it remains the leader by a wide margin (28% share) and the same
is true of Belgium (22%) and Switzerland (31%).
Although total European EV sales have increased by around 130 percent
year on year (Jan - Oct 2011 vs. Jan - Oct 2012), this falls well short of
industry expert predictions. Sales of electric vehicles differ widely
per market. Whereas only one of every 1000 cars sold in Germany is an
electric vehicle (EV), its neighbor country Austria already tracks 3 EVs
per thousand cars, France 5 and The Netherlands as high as 8 out of
1000. Top of the ranks in Europe is Norway where 30 out of 1000
registered vehicles are electric cars. Despite this very heterogeneous
environment, Opel has managed to grow its European Ampera sales by at
least twice as much as the overall European EV market growth.
In November, Opel announced that it had more than doubled its Ampera
fleet customer base in the space of just six months, from around 700 in
March to almost 2,000 in October across Europe. This is an increase of
more than 180 percent.
Opel Ampera with revolutionary electric propulsion
A 16 kWh lithium ion battery powers the 111kW/150 hp electric motor
of the Ampera. Depending on the style of driving and road conditions,
distances of between 40 and 80 kilometers can be covered in the purely
battery operated mode, free of emissions. In extended range mode, which
activates whenever the battery has reached its minimum state of charge,
power is seamlessly inverted to the electric drive unit from a generator
driven by a 1.4 liter, 63 kW/86 hp gasoline engine. Extended range mode
enables a total driving range of more than 500 kilometers without
refueling.
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