Technical data

Questions and answers
What do the Ampera fuel and CO
2
figures
really mean?
Fuel Consumption and CO
2
figures are
obtained from a standard test driving regime
on a rolling road in laboratory conditions.
Each vehicle manufacturer has to test a new
car they bring to market or a new engine
variant to receive a European Type Approval
Certificate before the vehicle can effectively
be sold in Europe and Registered with the
Country Authorities. This enables a customer
to compare all vehicles and their performance
in this test as each vehicle is tested in an
identical way.
With Ampera the test is done using the
lithium-ion battery pack and there are no
emissions whilst the car is being driven.
When the petrol engine is used to generate
electricity to power the electric drive system
it burns petrol and CO
2
emissions are
generated. Within the test this provides a
result of 56.5mpg and 116g/km. So how
efficient is this?
Take an Astra 1.4 VVT (87PS), this has a
Combined fuel efficiency of 51.4mpg and
CO
2
of 129g/km. As the Ampera engine is
not attached to a conventional gearbox, it sits
generating electricity alone rather than driving
the wheels and consequently will be more fuel
efficient.
This can also be viewed in terms of the relative
weights of the Ampera versus an Astra,
i.e. it is carrying a lithium-ion battery pack
which is some 198kg of additional weight,
so in a heavier vehicle this fuel efficiency is
more impressive. However, remember, the
1.4 16v VVT (86PS) engine from Ampera is
generating electricity for the 150PS electric
drive unit, so the customer always drives with
the 150PS.
Many owners will aim to drive their Ampera
on battery energy as much as possible and
where 85% of the UK commuting population
is driving less than 25 miles per day (EcoAuto,
May 2010), then they will achieve their goal
of not having to generate additional electrical
energy from the petrol engine.
When an Ampera owner wants to drive a
considerable distance, e.g. on holiday from
Yorkshire to Cornwall, they still have that ability
in the one car they have purchased, with the
generation of electricity by the petrol engine,
Ampera can be your only car.
The EU Type Approval figures do not take
account of the CO
2
generated by the UK and
European power stations that feed the UK
national grid. On average, each kilowatt/hour
(kWh) of electricity generated in the UK emits
545g of CO
2
(2 November 2011, Autocar)
– this is not included within the EU Type
Approval figures.
Note also that the emissions from the
extraction, production and transportation of
petrol and diesel are not taken into account in
the official emissions of conventional cars.
Will the launch of electric vehicles not
require the production of more electricity?
The first generation of electric vehicles will
have a limited volume and therefore the
impact on the electricity grid will be extremely
small.
Are lithium-ion batteries safe? Is there a
risk they will catch on fire?
We will not introduce a vehicle that has any
sort of safety issue. All of us are drivers of
these vehicles and so we want to take care of
our friends and our families as well.
Will the Ampera support AC or DC quick
charging?
No, quick charging is not supported by the
Ampera.
Can you choose between an automatic and
manual gearbox?
There is no manual gearbox. The Ampera
drives like a car with automatic transmission.
Is the Ampera available with a tow bar?
The Ampera is not engineered to tow a trailer.
The vehicle is designed to be aerodynamic
and to achieve the maximum range possible.
Can I put a ski box or a ski rack on
the roof?
The Ampera is not designed for roof loading,
again to make the vehicle as aerodynamic as
possible.
Can I install child seats in the car?
Vauxhall offers a range of child seats and child
seat restraint systems for children of all age
groups that comply with the latest EU safety
standards including side-impact protection.
For easy installation and safety child seats can
be fixed with ISOFIX attachments and/or the
standard lap and diagonal seatbelts.
43