OpelOpelGermany, 1863 > present85 models
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is celebrating two years of sales of its AmperaOpel AmperaGermany, 2011 > present6 photos
series hybrid, and in that time, it has sold 7,700 of them that have covered over 100 million collective kilometers.

“The Opel Ampera was the first electric vehicle on the market from a European manufacturer. Two years later, we remain committed to our strategy of providing sustainable mobility. We will continue investing in electric propulsion and believe in an emission-free automotive future,” said Opel CEO Dr. Karl-Thomas Neumann.

The car was voted Car of the Year in 2012 and is currently the third bestselling plug-in hybrid or EV in Europe. It is the bestselling one in Germany, and most popular EV or plug-in hybrid for vehicle fleets in Europe.

Opel says that owners gradually learn to drive their cars more efficiently and a recent study of Dutch owners found that drivers averaged 1.2l/100km fuel consumption with 27g/km of CO2 emissions. One driver was as low as 0.5l/100km over 15,000km of driving. The key is using the car’s battery rather than its range extender.

The number of plug-in hybrids and EVs like the Ampera are still quite low in Europe, but they are growing very, very slowly. In the last year, their market share has increased from 0.15% to 0.19% of the European new car market.

Opel is hoping that lowering the price to €38,300 in September 2013 will increase sales further.