With the Vauxhall Ampera you don’t have to worry about running out of electricity and becoming stranded – there is no need for range anxiety. The battery can power the car for the first 25-50 miles. After that, the on-board engine generator creates additional electricity to power the car for hundreds of additional miles.

The Ampera is a plug-in extended range electric vehicle with an on-board petrol generator. It has a large battery that stores power from your home electric outlet and which is connected to an electric motor. The electric motor directly propels the car. The battery can last for the first 25-50 miles. If you need to drive further, the on-board petrol generator will power up to provide electricity for the motor.

The car is designed to drive at least 25-50 miles on pure electricity stored in the battery from overnight home charging. After that the on-board generator will kick in and allow the car to be driven a further 310 miles on a full tank of fuel.

That’s a bit of a trick question. Because for the first 25-50 miles, no petrol is consumed.

Fuel Consumption / CO2 emissions* according to UN ECE R101 (weighted, combined): 235.4mpg*, 27g CO2/km*

The Ampera has an advanced battery pack that uses powerful and safe lithium-ion chemistry.

Four.

300.1ltrs, to be exact.  With both back seat reclined the luggage space increases to 1000 litres

Electric driving is cost effective. We estimate that an electrically driven kilometer in the Vauxhall Ampera costs about one-fifth the price of a kilometer driven in a conventional petrol-powered vehicle. It costs about 0.02p per mile to drive electrically vs. 0.11p using petrol priced at £1.30 per litre.

Yes. This means that when the car is slowed, the kinetic or motion-based energy is recaptured as electricity and stored in the battery.

Before order banks opened customers had the opportunity to join the ePioneer scheme.  With order banks opening on 12th December, this waiting list was closed.

The battery takes  about 6 hours to fully recharge using the boot stored charging cable. The Ampera using this cable can be plugged into a 240-volt/10 amp outlet.

In order to avoid potential problems based on private electrical installations, we have decided to limit the charging rate of the Ampera at ordinary plug sockets to a maximum of 10 A. Before charging at more than 6 A, you should have your electrical installation checked and approved by a qualified electrician.

Experience and testing have shown that the quality of plug sockets is not uniform and as such that they cannot support trouble-free 16 A charging on a regular basis. In order to ensure a trouble-free charging experience for our customers, we have decided to limit portable cord set charging to maximum 10 A.

Socket quality is affected by two factors. The first is the actual design of the socket, which depends on the different manufacturers. Some designs are more robust than others. The second factor, specific to any particular socket, is how that socket has been “aged” by usage. Sockets wear out as do all electromechanical devices.

No. This is an industry-wide concern and most mainstream manufacturers are moving to a maximum of 10 A for the portable charging equipment they provide for use with standard sockets. The Ampera is still capable of charging at 16 A from the Voltec home charge station option and from public charge stations that are directly wired to a dedicated AC branch circuit.

All electric vehicle supply equipment (i.e. cord sets and charge stations) communicates its maximum electrical capability to the vehicle and the vehicle limits charging to this value. Since supply equipment is available from other manufacturers, non-Voltec cord sets may not have a 10 A limit. If you buy non-Voltec electric vehicle supply equipment, you should follow the instructions from the equipment manufacturer. However, we always recommend that any cord set plugged into a household socket should draw a maximum of 10 A from the socket, and cord sets not enabled to a 10 A capacity limit should not be used.

In the worst case, repeatedly recharging any electric vehicle at 16 A from a worn or damaged socket could cause overheating at the socket.

Under average temperature conditions, recharging with the cord set at 10 A will take about 6 hours; recharging at 6 A will take approximately 11 hours. Please note: Recharging with 16 A in less than 4 hours is still possible with the optional home charging station or any other charging point / socket which has been installed and approved by a qualified electrician.

Yes, but only with the optional home charge station or other charging point/socket, which must be installed by a qualified electrician. The recharging time with the home-charger will be around four hours (under average temperature conditions).

The price is €395 (recommended retail price), plus installation costs.

Reasons for being unable to charge could be a significant voltage drop between the neutral and protective earth circuit (indicating too-long wire lengths between distribution box and socket, a too-small wire gauge, or a bad connection); inadequate earthing/grounding impedance (indicating a missing or bad ground connection at the socket, distribution panel, or earth/ground point); or a non-dedicated electrical installation (indicating additional loads on the circuit). In general a dedicated circuit is required to charge the Ampera.

There is no immediate danger for our press pre-production versions of the Ampera. Current cord sets can be used until replacement sets are available (date to be determined), provided a charge rate of 10 A is not exceeded.

a. We first sent you your password by e-mail after the reservation and payment of £150 (applies only to retail customers). Please check your inbox.
b. If you still cannot find your password, please get in touch with our service personnel on 00800 300 92 010 

In order to access the ePioneer section, you need an ePioneer account. You will receive a personal account when you reserve your Vauxhall Ampera and pay the £150 processing fee (applies only to retail customers) at vauxhall-ampera.co.uk.