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We already knew that the Chevrolet Bolt EV was going to hit the European market under a different badge. GM CEO Mary Barra announced the Ampera-e project back in February and now, we have a debut date.
According to Opel’s press release, the electric vehicle sporting a lightning flash logo is set to debut in October at the “Mondial de l’Automobile” in Paris and will be displayed from October 1-16. Also included in their announcement are the Ampera-e technical specs.
These are just provisional performance figures but the Ampera-e should be capable of sprinting from 0-31mph in just 3.2 seconds and accelerate from 50-75 mph in 4.5 seconds. GM previously said that the Bolt’s 0-60 mph time will be under 7 seconds and the Ampera-e’s estimated times supports their claim so we could see something similar with the Bolt.
Opel also promises to deliver an EV that can prduce 204 PS (201 horsepower) and 266 lb-ft of torque. As for the range, the Bolt is said to have a 200+ mile range so we can assume that the Ampera-e will have a similar number.
As both models are so similar, we can assume that neither the Bolt nor the Ampera-e were designed with high performance in mind and we all know by now that the Bolt sacrificed aerodynamics for more cargo space. Opel’s press release will give us a bit us a bit of reassurance in this area.
“The Ampera-e thus performs at the same level as OPC (Opel Performance Center) models, the sporty spearheads of Opel. Fun-to-drive with the Opel Ampera-e also means swift cruising at up to 150 km/h.”
By the time the Opel Ampera-is unveiled in October, we should have a better understanding of what to expect as the Bolt is set to go into production that month and we should know more about it by then.