50th Anniversary: Opel Celebrates Record Breaking Elektro GT

• Six pack: Modified Opel GT sets world speed records for battery-electric cars
• Special development: Two electric motors, jet-fighter batteries, high-pressure tyres
• Bare necessities: No air intakes, mirrors or door handles
• First BEV with the Blitz: Elektro GT is predecessor of today’s Opel Corsa-e
• Need for speed: Georg von Opel in wheel tracks of cousin and “rocket man” Fritz

Opel Elektro GT

1971 was the year that Apollo 15 astronauts become the first to ride in an all-electric lunar rover after landing on the Moon. That year a unique Opel GT also proved that electric motors were not just for golf buggies. For on May 17-18, 1971 at the “Hockenheimring” racetrack in Germany, Georg von Opel set out to establish new speed records for electric cars with a specially prepared and modified sports car – the Opel “Elektro GT”. In the end the car set six world records.

Grandson of Opel-founder Adam Opel, a successful businessman and a world-class athlete, Georg von Opel's record attempt with the “Elektro GT” was not only “proof of concept” for the future of battery electric vehicles (BEV); it was also the continuation of a family tradition. His cousin “Raketen-Fritz” (rocket-man Fritz) grabbed the headlines from 1927 to 1929 with rocket-powered demonstrations that reached their peak at the Avus racetrack on May 23, 1928 with the RAK 2 and a top speed of 238 km/h.

“Elektro GT” was equipped with two Bosch DC electric motors that together produced 88 kW (120 hp) of continuous power and a peak power output of even 118 kW (160 hp).

Varta provided the four nickel-cadmium batteries installed beside and behind the driver. With 280 cells, the batteries added 590 kg to the 960 kg of the production GT, totalling 1,550 kg – about the same as an Opel Diplomat B.

Long distance record attempt necessitated three hundred and sixty cells, increasing the weight still further to 740 kg. Tipping the scales at 1,700 kg, the GT then weighed the same as a short wheelbase Opel Blitz truck. The extra weight required harder springs and Continental developed special high-pressure tyres that minimised the rolling friction to a minimum.

Modifications to the bodywork included closing all air intakes and outlets at the front, a “flat” bonnet without the production GT’s characteristic bulge for the carburettor, the removal of bumpers, mirrors and door handles, as well as the complete stripping of the engine and passenger compartments.

Just enough space for driver: Jet-fighter batteries fill up passenger compartment

An electronic management system occupied the boot and, unique for a GT, the rear of the car featured a large spoiler. The rear lamps were removed and the holes they left behind simply covered up. A heat exchanger replaced the exhaust system silencer.

A conventional car battery, providing the electricity for the electronics, sat at the front of the engine compartment where the electric motors replaced the petrol engine. The batteries (more usually found in jet-fighters), mounted in special racks, took up all the space beside and behind the driver, leaving him just enough room to sit on a normal seat.

Behind the steering wheel of the “Elektro GT”, Georg von Opel set four new world records for electrically powered cars on May 17, 1971:

Distance	Time	Speed
1.0 km	19.061s	188.86 km/h
1.0 km standing start	31.066s	115.88 km/h
0.5 km standing start	19.358s	92.98 km/h
0.25 mile standing start	16.869s	85.87 km/h
Two more records were added on May 18, both from a standing start:
10 km	4 min 43.69s	126.89 km/h
10 miles	7 min 35.63s	127.15 km/h

However, the low energy capacity of the Ni-Cd batteries prevented a new world record for 100 km at a constant speed of 100 km/h. Attempt ended after only 44 km.

First BEV from Opel, the “Elektro GT” demonstrated that a battery electric vehicle could match the speed of a contemporary sports car. Today, 50 years of development and innovation later, the former high performance runner has morphed into the Opel Corsa-e – an all-round athlete capable of not only sprinting from zero to 100 km/h in 8.1 seconds but also covering up to 337 km in the WLTP 1 cycle on a single charge of its lithium ion battery.

Opel Corsa-e

[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.

Back to The Future: Opel Manta Goes Electric

• Electrifyingly different: Opel Manta GSe ElektroMOD
• Best of both worlds: Maximum emotions, zero emissions
• Vintage voltage: Electrically driven icon for a digitised and sustainable future

Opel Manta GSe ElektroMOD

Opel belongs to the e-pioneers among automobile manufacturers. Opel’s newest BEV (battery electric vehicle), Opel Mokka-e, is just arriving on our roads and the brand is already allowing a first glimpse of another exciting e-project: Opel Manta GSe ElektroMOD harks back to the legendary Opel Manta of 1970 and simultaneously gives added impetus to the growing phenomenon of “restomods” – a recent development among auto. All-electric Opel Manta GSe ElektroMOD with its fully digital cockpit is as sporty as an original Opel GSe and displays its further ambitions in the “MOD” part of its name – for modern technology and sustainable lifestyle and the English abbreviation of “modification”. Also, the German spelling for electro is a throwback to the Opel Elektro GT that set world records for electric vehicles 50 years ago.

Opel Elektro GT

With its sustainable, emissions-free electric drive, Opel Manta now becomes immortal, independent of spares for engine and transmission or potential driving bans for older combustion engine cars. The transformation to ElektroMOD also shows how timeless the lines from 1970 are. What was sculptural and straightforward half a century ago still fits perfectly with the Opel design philosophy today. Opel Manta GSe ElektroMOD stands there boldly and clearly and confidently starts a new future: electric, emission-free – full of emotions.

Opel Manta GSe ElektroMOD

Opel Manta GSe ElektroMOD is also a tribute to the beautiful Opel Manta that most recently provided inspiration for design of new brand face – Opel Vizor, which organically integrates into one single module the grille, lighting system and Blitz brand logo. New Opel Crossland and Opel Mokka already feature the Vizor, which will be a hallmark of all future Opel models.

Manta GSe ElektroMOD faithfully and light heartedly follows Opel’s “simply electric” route to the electrification of the brand, whether as passenger car or light commercial vehicle. Every Opel model will be electrified by 2024, and the customer already has the choice between plug-in hybrids such as the Grandland X and all-electric BEVs from the Corsa-e small car to the Zafira-e Life “lounge on wheels”, and from the Combo-e cargo to the Vivaro-e van.

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.