What car was it?

[karl_h]

Driving through Plymouth today I saw a car I've never seen before. This one was black and very good looking, appeared to be brand new. I could have sworn I saw a Vauxhall badge, but checking the website there is nothing even close.
The looks of it seem very similar to the design language of the Chevy volt but I don't think that's on sale yet.
Anyone got any clues??

[NadiR]

I saw a Volt on the road about a month ago, it was on European plates and appeared to be testing on the UK roads. Did you manage to get the plate?

[thinfourth2]

Erm this

http://www.vauxhall-ampera.co.uk/index.php/eng/hom...

[JayTee94]

Vauxhall Ampera?

[karl_h]

That's the one. Looked great in all black!

[m44kts]

It looks fugly in white.

[karl_h]

Thirty eight thousand English pounds! That's madness!

[Dave Hedgehog]

karl_h said:

Thirty eight thousand English pounds! That's madness!

that's one expensive washing machine...

[AlexKing]

They're trying to sell 1st gen electricky cars one size too small. Make them Mondeo sized rather than Focus sized and it's much simpler to justify the price tag. Wait until costs have come down for the next generation before you go all everyman on people. Stoopid manufacturers.

[Papa Hotel]

AlexKing said:

They're trying to sell 1st gen electricky cars one size too small. Make them Mondeo sized rather than Focus sized and it's much simpler to justify the price tag. Wait until costs have come down for the next generation before you go all everyman on people. Stoopid manufacturers.

Ordinarily, I'd shoot out some sarcastic comment about how you must be smarter than all the manufacturers, blah, blah, blah. Except I think you're right. No-one in the market for a Focus-sized car wants to pay the prices of these 1st generation electric cars, manufacturers need to aim higher.

[soad]

m44kts said:

It looks fugly in white.

+1

[FreeLitres]

JayTee94 said:

Vauxhall Ampera?

[thinfourth2]

Dave Hedgehog said:

karl_h said:

Thirty eight thousand English pounds! That's madness!

that's one expensive washing machine...

You can pay almost that much on a brand new golf diesel

[Carfolio]

Papa Hotel said:

Ordinarily, I'd shoot out some sarcastic comment about how you must be smarter than all the manufacturers, blah, blah, blah. Except I think you're right. No-one in the market for a Focus-sized car wants to pay the prices of these 1st generation electric cars, manufacturers need to aim higher.

Perhaps they're not there for actual sales. Hint: Government grants...

[Number 5]

I think it looks nice!

[AlexKing]

Carfolio said:

Perhaps they're not there for actual sales. Hint: Government grants...

Surely Government grants + actual sales is better than the grants alone. I think Tesla are broadly doing it right with the Model S (apart from the stupid interior with a laptop screen glued to the dashboard). The prices they're planning are what you'd pay for a premium A4 / 5-Series / E-Class type thing, so it may just sell in those sort of numbers - at least across the pond where size is more analogous to quality.

Yeah I know my last comment probably comes off as a bit arrogant against big car makers, but this is GM we're talking about here...

[Carfolio]

I may be being overly cynical, but what if the players aren't trying to develop cars for sales - perhaps they know the market is too limit - and are saving potential R&D costs and are quietly pocketing the grants until someone, somewhere says "hang on, this isn't working"?

I can't personally get my head around a massive, heavy, brick-like aerodynamics electric SUV without this possibility ;-)