Vauxhall Ampera review

Vauxhall calls its forthcoming Ampera the “stuff of fantasy in the real world”. Ten years ago that would mean thundering performance and track-honed handling, but in these days of £1.30-a-litre fuel, a battery car without the range problems is a dream machine for an increasing number of people.

The Ampera is an electric four-seater that’ll manage between 40 and50 miles on battery power alone. But when the packs are depleted the range is extended further by a petrol engine that charges up the batteries, giving it the same distance capabilities as any other car on the road.

There are no official UK figures yet on the fuel consumption, but over in the US the Environmental Protection Agency has said the Ampera’s sister car, the Chevy Volt, will return an impressive 112mpg based on imperial gallons.

Starting afresh much like Toyota did with the hybrid Prius, Vauxhall’s parent company, GM, built a car specifically designed to take a lithium ion battery pack, as well as two electric motors and the quite standard 1.4-litre petrol engine.

Weighing around 180kg, this battery pack sits under the rear seats in a T-shape. Intruding between the two rear passengers, it makes the Ampera a strict four-seater and reduces the boot size to an average 300 litres. However you can drop the rear seat backs to liberate just over 1000 litres and the overall feeling is that this would function decently well as family car.

So, how does a car with a total of three engines under the bonnet work in practice? The answer is, surprisingly well. The main electric engine does the lion’s share of the work, propelling the car on battery power until speeds of 60mph, when the secondary motor chimes in to help.

Confusingly this also acts as a generator too, so when the battery is down to its last 30 per cent, the 84bhp petrol engine seamlessly kicks in to recharge the batteries. However, with the generator also working an electric motor, some of that power gets fed indirectly to the wheels, making it closer to a hybrid.

In this mode, with the petrol engine responding more or less to the inputs from your accelerator foot, the Ampera is rated (based again on the American figures, translated to imperial gallons) at 44mpg. That’s obviously much less impressive, but with most commutes in the UK falling short of the 40-50mpg range, electric power sourced from the nightly household plug charge will make this very efficient indeed to run.

In fact, Vauxhall reckons that the petrol engine (taken from a Corsa) will be little used and freely admits that lugging this extra engine about creates inefficiencies. For a start, it pushes up the weight to 1,732kg, which is one reason why a 149bhp car can only manage 60mph in nine seconds. It’s a bit like lugging a picnic lunch with you everywhere in case your work canteen is unexpectedly shut that day.

However, Vauxhall says that servicing bills will be down by 15 to 20 per cent because you’ll use the petrol engine less, thereby reducing costs further. The four hours it’ll take to recharge from empty from a standard UK plug costs between 40p and £1.70 depending on electricity tariff, and the Ampera will also be exempt from annual VED tax. With big tax discounts for company car drivers too, the Ampera goes some distance to offset the largish cost of buying it, which will be £28,995 when it goes on sale at the beginning of 2012. That includes a government grant of £5,000, but even then it still costs the same as a well-specced BMW 320d.

The Ampera doesn’t quite have that same expertly conceived executive ambience as the BMW, but the well-built interior certainly wouldn’t put you off. The dashboard is dominated by two screens that give you detailed information on the electric flow and consumption, including a mesmerising rolling green ball that rises or falls depending on the efficiency of your driving.

Uniquely for a car in this price range, the polished plastic centre console is touch sensitive, meaning you just press symbols on the dash itself. This won’t appeal to everyone, but it doesn’t seem gimmicky and all helps create that welcome feeling that you’re piloting a car from the future.

Driving it is suitably serene, with very little noise filtering through and a nice pliant ride. The low-down weight of the batteries ensures it doesn’t get too wallowy in the corners, but understandably it doesn’t feel like a GTI version could ever be created from it. Indeed, the displays actively encourage a more economical driving style; but, unlike with pure battery cars, the penalty of inefficiency isn’t a silent roll to a halt, but instead the noise of a petrol engine coming to your rescue.