Opel Corsa-e ancestor: Happy 30th Birthday Opel Kadett Impuls I

• Based on production model: Opel Kadett Impuls I electric research vehicle for city driving
• No compromises: boot space and payload of standard model largely retained
• Street life: 0-50 km/h in ten seconds, 100 km/h maximum speed
• State-of-the-art in 1990: 14.3 kWh nickel-cadmium batteries

Opel Kadett Impuls I and Opel Corsa-e

A range of up to 337 kilometres in the WLTP 1 cycle. Zero to 100km/h in 8.1 seconds. A 50 kWh battery that fast charges to 80 per cent of capacity in 30 minutes. Opel Corsa-e is suitable for unconstrained everyday use – an electric car for everyone.

1990: Opel Kadett Impuls I

An e-Opel for a more specific purpose was the Opel Corsa-e’s ancestor, Opel Kadett Impuls I. German brand created the research vehicle 30 years ago especially for city driving. Idea was to find out how well a production-based electric car with currently available electric components would suit inner-city traffic of the time. On one condition: keep as far as possible the interior and boot space, as well as the payload of the standard production model.

Opel developed the Kadett Impuls I in cooperation with the RWE energy concern and the battery manufacturer SAFT – today the company’s partner in the planned joint production of battery cells at the Kaiserslautern plant. A 100 V DC electric motor powered the front wheels. Nickel-cadmium batteries supplied the energy. In order to optimize weight distribution, the batteries were in the engine compartment and under the boot. They weighed a total of 310 kg, contained 14.3 kWh of energy and had a volume of 170 litres.

Maximum power output of 16 kW (22 hp) was chosen especially for city driving. Zero to 50 km/h acceleration took 10.0 seconds. Maximum speed of the 1,000 kg car was 100 km/h. Inclines of up to 25 per cent were no problem for the e-Kadett. The braking system partially recovered the kinetic energy generated under deceleration and stored it as electricity in the battery.

Batteries required recharging for around five hours after a distance of 80km. There were no compromises on comfort. Payload was 350 kg (490 kg on the production Kadett) and the boot capacity was 330 litres (390 litres on the production car).

Long tradition of e-pioneers: Opel Kadett B Stir-Lec 1 and Opel Elektro GT

For Opel, Kadett Impuls I was another contribution to the traffic politics discussions going on at the time. Earlier examples included Kadett B Stir-Lec I and the Opel Elektro GT.

1968: Opel Kadett B Stir-Lec 1

Fourteen lead-acid batteries energized the 1968 Stir-Lec study. A rear-mounted Stirling combustion engine generated the electricity that kept the batteries constantly charged – a forerunner of the “range extender” principle that would later go into production with the Opel Ampera.

Only three years later, Opel Elektro GT broke six world records for electric vehicles at speeds up to 188 km/h – driven by Georg von Opel, the grandson of the company founder. Powered by two coupled electric motors producing 88 kW (120 hp), with a nickel-cadmium battery pack, e-GT had a modest range of 44 km at a constant speed of 100 km/h – at the time, electric mobility’s biggest handicap.

Opel Elektro GT 

[1] Range determined according to WLTP test procedure methodology (R (EC) No. 715/2007, R (EU) No. 2017/1151). The actual range can vary under everyday conditions and depends on various factors, in particular on personal driving style, route characteristics, outside temperature, use of heating and air conditioning and thermal preconditioning.