Vauxhall Ampera

[mr tommo]

Anybody have any experience with these? My dad is currently thinking about going down the Electric/Hybrid route as they are offered on the Motability scheme he has been a part of for a few years now since losing his leg.

I seem to remember the Vauxhall Ampera was the best one but I've not really kept up with this side of the market.

He only does less than 30 miles per day at the moment and has solar panels at home which may/may not help keep the cost of charging down.

My understanding is the Ampera is powered by electric motors, will do 25-50 miles electirc only and it then has a 1.4 petrol generator to keep the electric motors powered up. I take it this means that it can't run out of batteries and as long as you keep the tank topped up as you would in a normal car it has unlimited range?

 

[mr tommo]

Yes been watching a few videos and the dash buttons did seem a little naff.

So you can choose between electric & petrol then? Or did it run out of electricity after 34 miles?

Seems to be very good from what I have read so far, is it the best hybrid to go for?

 

[mr tommo]

It definitely does seem like the way to go.

Thanks just had a good read of that autocar article, apart from the lack of engagement with the ride it seems to get good reviews across the board.

With hold mode, why would you want to use this if say you daily mileage was 20-30 miles?

My dad's daily useage is around 8 miles town driving at 30mph, 12 miles dual carriageway at 50mph. Any extra mileage int he day would be around town. Vehicle can be charged every night at home.

 

[mr tommo]

Ah I see, so the petrol engine would be more efficient at cruising speed rather than the start stop section. Yeah I've been going through my dad's various journeys and he rarely does any sort of long distances, it's mainly just work, hospital appointments and the school run.

When you see figures in the above articles on mpg (think they quoted 57mpg), I assume that's just in anything other than electric mode and doesn't account for the £1 for 30ish miles in electric mode?

 

[mr tommo]

I've been driving the Volt recently, my god the brakes on that thing are terrible - it's nigh on impossible to manoeuvre the thing smoothly (and safely!)

I really can't get on with the touch screen dash and touch sensitive buttons on there either, it just feels all very laggy and annoying.

On the road once you're going - it's not a bad car, and by your dad's driving requirement it looks like he *could* get to work on a single charge - but you'll be driving back with the engine on - which can be very noisy and quite a lot of vibration.

They're not a bad first attempt at a plug in hybrid for GM, but there's some serious flaws about them that put me off them.

Interesting, was the smoothness issue due to the electric delivery? His driving is 4 miles town and them 12 miles on the school run and back to work, then 4 miles home. Shouldn't exceed 30 miles per day.

As I said in OP, it would be I the motability scheme so it seems like a decent way to try this kind of technology without having to worry about resale, battery renewal etc.

 

[mr tommo]

At 30miles a day there's no reason he couldn't get a fully electric Leaf or i3. The Leaf would be significantly cheaper and easily manage that range. For longer journeys rapid chargers are popping up all over the motorway network (and completely free to use) which are compatible with the Leaf (not the i3 yet though).

I test drove one and really enjoyed it. If work didn't require me to do long journeys on a regular basis I would definitely be driving one to allow me to have a more extreme second car.

I think the worry with the leaf is you've got you range and that's it. They rarely go far away from home, but then my dad can have hospital appointments all over the country so wouldn't be ideal. I haven't looked into the i3 at all but will do

 

[mr tommo]

The i3 has a range extender option - a little motorbike engine in the back which can keep the battery topped up. The i3 seems to be much more highly rated than the Ampera by those who have driven both but I don't know how the costs compare especially on the mobility scheme.

I'm fascinated by the technology and enjoy the lazy drive/low down torque of electric drive so end up reading quite a few articles on them

Yeah I must admit it does fascinate me. I love big petrol engines and never thought I'd see the day I'd like to try something like this. Will try to get a test drive sorted on the Ampera for now while I look into the i3.

 

[mr tommo]

I agree with the cost but as it's through motability scheme that doesn't really matter. Sure there is a higher initial deposit than a normal hatchback but he won't have to worry about residuals or battery life as it gets handed back after 3 years.

Just for comparison a vehicle with the same initial deposit on the scheme is a bottom of the range Audi Q3 2.0 diesel.

All this depends on how easy the car is to access however, he usually has larger 4x4/suv car as they are easier to get in and out.