Ampera/Volt Owners?
Discussion
Now they're nearing the £5k mark I'm interested in getting one as a daily. Getting a charging point installed soon for my OH's Zoe when it arrives, and can charge at work for free, which is only 10 miles each way. But I occasionally do very long journeys and carry bikes/crap in the back.
Any current/previous owners on here? I'd like to hear what they're like to live with and how much you can fit in them etc. There must be something wrong as they sold so few...
Any current/previous owners on here? I'd like to hear what they're like to live with and how much you can fit in them etc. There must be something wrong as they sold so few...
I dont own one but have been close recently to buying one
only thign they got wrong was the costs and people didnt get the EV thing back then as much they will genuinly do 50 miles on electric which is better than all the new plug in hybrids
plently of high milage volts in america, only downside for the UK is that vauxhall dont really do the aftersales for them in terms of servicing so if it goes wrong it might be more of a pain to sort
only thign they got wrong was the costs and people didnt get the EV thing back then as much they will genuinly do 50 miles on electric which is better than all the new plug in hybrids
plently of high milage volts in america, only downside for the UK is that vauxhall dont really do the aftersales for them in terms of servicing so if it goes wrong it might be more of a pain to sort
l354uge said:
Now they're nearing the £5k mark I'm interested in getting one as a daily. Getting a charging point installed soon for my OH's Zoe when it arrives, and can charge at work for free, which is only 10 miles each way. But I occasionally do very long journeys and carry bikes/crap in the back.
Any current/previous owners on here? I'd like to hear what they're like to live with and how much you can fit in them etc. There must be something wrong as they sold so few...
Are they really, though?Any current/previous owners on here? I'd like to hear what they're like to live with and how much you can fit in them etc. There must be something wrong as they sold so few...
I had just a look on eBay/AT and there was one just under 6, lots nearer 8, and the rest (as usual) still at £10k.
I looked at them 2 years ago and they were 10k then, but:
- The warranty mostly expires at 100k, which a lot of them had hit (hence big price drop when they do)
- They have a lot of things that can and do fail.
So, if you bought one for £5k there's a good chance in the sub text that it does, or could, need a few thousand spent on it. All it takes is an inverter or something related to battery cooling and you're pretty much at the mercy of a specialist/qualified person.
Look at it as a better used leaf with a petrol generator
It won’t do more than 40 ev miles summer about 30 winter. It’s obviously only got four seats. Servicing should be done by Vauxhall specialist who are probably a bit of a drive away if you want to keep up the EV warranty. You will be able to charge at home (get a type 1 / type 2 cable). You will be able to charge at most shopping malls and *some* council chargers but remember it’s a type 1.
Aside of the above they are fantastic. Far far better EV system than leafs IMO - cooling / more redundancy with battery ; far better hybrid system than on modern hybrids - its an EREV not a hybrid. No issues with range anxiety on running out of electric it just swaps seamlessly to petrol which has a decent range (hundreds of miles). Fair amount of parts are basic Vauxhall. The EV component is unique but based on volt in us it is unlikely to go wrong from memory engine is Vauxhall / Opel 1.5 which is pretty reliable and never run stressed (due to EREV).
If pure EVs hadn’t come along as quickly as they did this would still sell new like hot cakes. It’s one of these ahead of its time vehicles - in 2012/14 it was far too niche. If GM had wanted to sell it at £35 - £40k it needed a SAAB badge (viggen?) not a Vauxhall one and they also didn’t market its tax efficiency well as a rep mobile.
It won’t do more than 40 ev miles summer about 30 winter. It’s obviously only got four seats. Servicing should be done by Vauxhall specialist who are probably a bit of a drive away if you want to keep up the EV warranty. You will be able to charge at home (get a type 1 / type 2 cable). You will be able to charge at most shopping malls and *some* council chargers but remember it’s a type 1.
Aside of the above they are fantastic. Far far better EV system than leafs IMO - cooling / more redundancy with battery ; far better hybrid system than on modern hybrids - its an EREV not a hybrid. No issues with range anxiety on running out of electric it just swaps seamlessly to petrol which has a decent range (hundreds of miles). Fair amount of parts are basic Vauxhall. The EV component is unique but based on volt in us it is unlikely to go wrong from memory engine is Vauxhall / Opel 1.5 which is pretty reliable and never run stressed (due to EREV).
If pure EVs hadn’t come along as quickly as they did this would still sell new like hot cakes. It’s one of these ahead of its time vehicles - in 2012/14 it was far too niche. If GM had wanted to sell it at £35 - £40k it needed a SAAB badge (viggen?) not a Vauxhall one and they also didn’t market its tax efficiency well as a rep mobile.
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