Geneva 2009: Opel goes Voltec, Ampera coming in late 2011
Click above for a high-res gallery of the Opel Ampera concept General Motors Europe boss Carl-Peter Forster began this morning’s press conference in Geneva with an acknowledgment of the dire financial straights that the entire industry is experiencing right now. Forster also candidly admitted that GM is currently investigating all options when it comes to changing its relationship with Opel , including outside equity investments. Once he got past all the bad news, however, he introduced the production-intent version of the Opel Ampera. If it looks familiar, it should. If it doesn’t, well, what rock have you been hiding under for the last two years? The Ampera is the Opel badged variant of the Chevrolet Volt . It uses the same Voltec powertrain as the Volt, as well as most of its body. The main differences are the markedly more aggressive front and rear fascias and the black (rather than white) interior. Like the Volt, most of the front fascia is closed off to optimize aerodynamics. The styling of the nose is a mix of the 2007 GTC and Flextreme concepts, and we rather like the bold new look, particularly the chevron-like forms that grow downward from the headlamps. The Ampera is planned for production in late 2011, about one year after the Volt. A right-hand drive Vauxhall version is scheduled to launch a year after that. Gallery: Geneva 2009: Opel Ampera reveal Gallery: Opel Ampera Continue reading Geneva 2009: Opel goes Voltec, Ampera coming in late 2011 Auto Blog: EV/Plug-in , Hybrid , Chevrolet , GM , Geneva Motor Show , Opel Geneva 2009: Opel goes Voltec, Ampera coming in late 2011 originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Tue, 03 Mar 2009 06:11:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds .Car Blog Green | Car Blog Green | Car Blog Green
Go here to see the original:
Geneva 2009: Opel goes Voltec, Ampera coming in late 2011
Posted in Auto Green | 
black, chevy, geneva, geneva motor show, Mitsubishi, opel ampera, opelampera, voltecpowertrain | 
Leave a commentEEStor and GM up a tree, t-a-l-k-i-n-g? [w/VIDEO]
Auto Blog: Emerging Technologies , Etc. , EV/Plug-in , Hybrid , GM , USA Once again, the internetz are abuzz with rumors and speculation concerning EEStor . This time the hubbub concerns the exact nature of their relationship with General Motors . If you’re the last person on the planet who hasn’t heard of them, EEStor is a company headquartered in Austin, Texas that claims to have the Holy Grail technology of the electric car industry. Namely, an ultracapacitor that can hold lots more energy than a lithium battery, doesn’t degrade over time and will be relatively inexpensive to manufacture. Since they haven’t shown the world any sort of tangible proof of this black box, skepticism abounds. The latest round of excited whispers involves a conversation held between GM’s advanced battery boss, Denise Grey, and GM-Volt.com blogger, Lyle Dennis, in which the association between EEStor and the automaker was discussed. Hank Green from EcoGeek happened to be standing nearby with a camera, happily, and captured the exchange on video, which we have for you after the break. The most provocative part of the brief exchange was Ms. Grey’s reply to Lyle’s query as to whether she had seen a working prototype. She replied, “… I probably shouldn’t say if I’ve received parts or not, that’s kind of confidential.” While it may sound in print as though she might possibly know something, the video makes clear to us that it’s more likely she doesn’t. Hit the jump to watch it for yourselves. [Source: GM-Volt.com / EcoGeek ] Continue reading EEStor and GM up a tree, t-a-l-k-i-n-g? [w/VIDEO] EEStor and GM up a tree, t-a-l-k-i-n-g? [w/VIDEO] originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Mon, 02 Feb 2009 12:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds .Car Blog Green|Car Blog Green|Car Blog Green
Posted in Auto Green | black, denise grey, fisker-karma, green, lyledennis, plugin, pluginhybrids, time, time-the-hubbub | Leave a commentVIDEO: How big is your footprint?
Auto Blog: Etc. , EV/Plug-in , Hybrid , Jeep , Toyota , Lightweight Click above and scroll down to watch the video A couple of days ago, a Norwegian, know to us only as geisha44 , uploaded to YouTube a nice little video meant to promote and provoke discussion. Consisting of wintry scenes from a bustling town in Norway, we are confronted by a sight unknown to many of the relatively balmy locales in the U.S. No, not the sled, though that would definitely qualify as rare, but rather the people walking on the sidewalks. We also see some traffic and specifically observe three different choices that individuals made to reach a store. One took a Jeep , one took a Prius and the third arrives in a Kewet Buddy . Obviously, a four-wheel-drive Jeep may be handy to get about in a place that receives a lot of snow. On the other hand, the Prius hybrid is not home hiding in the garage until winter ends and has a smaller carbon footprint than the Jeep. With the arrival of the all-electric Kewet Buddy, whose lead-acid batteries haven’t kept it garaged either, we are treated to a demonstration of another advantage of a truly small footprint. Want to see what it is? Hit the jump for a little thought provocation in action! [Source: YouTube ] Continue reading VIDEO: How big is your footprint? VIDEO: How big is your footprint? originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Mon, 02 Feb 2009 12:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds .Car Blog Green|Car Blog Green|Car Blog Green
See the original post here:
VIDEO: How big is your footprint?
Posted in Auto Green | a-bustling-town, a-friend-via, a-nice-little, a-truly-small, black, footprint, kewetbuddy, norway, people, time, toyotaprius, video, youtube | Leave a commentGet Approved!
Recent Comments