Vauxhall's new Ampera-e electric car, which will be unveiled at the Paris Motor Show later this month, will not be coming to the UK.
However, the vehicle, which will be sold in Europe from 2017 in left-hand drive guise by Vauxhall's sister company, Opel, will be evaluated in the UK by the manufacturer with the possibility of right-hand-drive models being produced in a future generation.
The Ampera-e has a pure electrical range that can exceed 250 miles without recharging (purely electrical range measured, based on the New European Driving Cycle, or NEDC, in km: > 400; provisional figure).
However, even taking into account the real-world impact of driving style, road and weather conditions, Vauxhall says the car can still achieve a range of more then 185 miles under average, every day conditions.
"Vauxhall is committed to having a future EV presence in its range," said Rory Harvey, Vauxhall’s chairman and managing director.
"The technology which underpins the new Ampera-e is of great interest to us, and we will be evaluating LHD cars from next spring and demonstrating them to clients.
"The fact that Ampera-e is not an eco-luxury or second car for customers broadens its appeal greatly, but it’s obviously vital that the car we sell in our market is right-hand-drive, and that won’t be available in the current generation."
DavidMG - 13/09/2016 11:15
The UK's Government-induced addiction to seriously polluting (Particulates. SO2, etc) diesel cars was most likely a factor in low sales for the previous Vauxhall Ampera in the UK - so no surprise with the UK Government still not penalising killer diesels that there's little or no scope for more ULEVs in the UK.