Ampera basics

2796 Views 34 Replies 17 Participants Last post by Grasshopper, Jun 10, 2017

Andy

Discussion Starter · May 21, 2014

I've got a friend who was all set to put an order in for an i3 REx but his wife just put the kibosh on it at the last moment.

The latest Ampera deals are looking more palatable so he's now switched his attention to that. We're probably going to nip out in our lunchbreak to go take a look at one. I'm not really up to speed on the Ampera but I've had a quick search on here. Can owners tell me if this 'real world' summary is about right?

* Electric range 40 miles, 50 if driven very carefully
* Petrol range 300 miles
* Petrol efficiency 40mpg (?)
* Usable battery capacity 10kWh
* 16A onboard charging, so 3 hours to charge or 5 hours via 3-pin plug?
* Type 1 charging socket on car.
* Need to purchase Type 2 to Type 1 lead for public charging.
* Servicing about £120 a year.

Anything else on the basics list that he should be aware of?

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hopbackguy

· #2 · May 21, 2014

Andy said:
I've got a friend who was all set to put an order in for an i3 but his wife just put the kibosh on it at the last moment.

The latest Ampera deals are looking more palatable so he's now switched his attention to that. We're probably going to nip out in our lunchbreak to go take a look at one. I'm not really up to speed on the Ampera but I've had a quick search on here. Can owners tell me if this 'real world' summary is about right?

* Electric range 40 miles, 50 if driven very carefully
* Petrol range 300 miles
* Petrol efficiency 40mpg (?)
* Usable battery capacity 10kWh
* 16A onboard charging, so 3 hours to charge or 5 hours via 3-pin plug?
* Type 1 charging socket on car.
* Need to purchase Type 2 to Type 1 lead for public charging.
* Servicing about £120 a year.

Anything else on the basics list that he should be aware of?

Electric range is about 30 (winter) to typically 45, 50 if driven carefully and calmly

Petrol range yep about right.
I typically get 45-50 on petrol. Depends on the hills and speed as always. It's never been as low as 40, even doing 70+mph back from London on the A3.
Usuable battery is 10.6 for mine, I think its 10.9 for the latest ones (new owners pls confirm)
Its about 3.5-4 hrs to charge fully from 16A, or about 5.5-6 hours at 10A from a 13A socket.
Another forum member just had has 2nd service done, cost just over £200. My first service was about what you've said, haven't got to my second yet.
Four seats, not five. May be a factor for your friend.

Reactions: 5

Andy

Discussion Starter · #3 · May 21, 2014

Thanks Mike, that's useful info.

derekb

· #4 · May 21, 2014

Unlike most EV's which are geeky-looking-middle-England-picnic-mobiles the Ampera looks great too! (granted not as good as a Tesla).

Derekosb

· #5 · May 21, 2014

Available as low as £20,995 (Positiv) from a dealer in Inverness or £22995 from Pentagon in Sheffield. Richard got an even better deal from Drive in Leicester.

Makes it a very compelling argument when the price is about the same as a well specced Ford Focus.

Remember the Ampera has full leather and lots of toys although I can't say the extra for the Electron is worth it.

Derek

Reactions: 4

Paul_Moxhay

· #6 · May 21, 2014

You have that pretty much spot on @Andy .

I would say that petrol is generally a bit better than 40mpg. I often get over 50 and sometimes 55mpg when running on petrol only but I generally don't tank it

Reactions: 1

Richard Gledhill

· #7 · May 21, 2014

I got 55.6mpg sitting at 65mph on the M1 and M69 yesterday over about 60 miles - remarkably efficient for a small petrol engine in a large car!

Reactions: 3

hopbackguy

· #8 · May 21, 2014

derekb said:
Unlike most EV's which are geeky-looking-middle-England-picnic-mobiles the Ampera looks great too! (granted not as good as a Tesla).

It does if its clean like yours and not covered in bird sh** like mine

Ruddy local feathered neighbours seem to have diarrhoea recently...

Richard Gledhill

· #9 · May 21, 2014

Same here

I might even take it to a car wash, it's that filthy!

Lee Dalton

· #10 · May 21, 2014

That's a pretty good summary, I'm only getting 10.6 out of my 2013 model.
Servicing, I just paid for a service pack, £451 for the first 3 services, and they come and collect it and drop it back off again

Reactions: 1

Geoff1947

· #11 · May 21, 2014

Worth considering that there are a limited number of Vauxhall dealers who sell and service Amperas. Around 25 at the moment in the uk. However they do provide a free collection and delivery service for the first four years.

Reactions: 1

purpleperil

· #12 · May 21, 2014

Can confirm all of above as real world. On a side note, just returned from 2500 mile trip round Europe (not in Ampera) & can't believe I didn't see one yet saw at least 5 i3! GM just aren't marketing this great car well enough!

Reactions: 2

Andy

Discussion Starter · #13 · May 21, 2014

Geoff1947 said:
Worth considering that there are a limited number of Vauxhall dealers who sell and service Amperas. Around 25 at the moment in the uk. However they do provide a free collection and delivery service for the first four years.

Thanks Geoff. He visited his local dealer earlier in the week, all excited to see the car then got surprised when they told him they didn't sell it. The dealer near work does though which is actually Drive mentioned by Derek above.

Reactions: 2

Richard Gledhill

· #14 · May 21, 2014

If it's Drive Leicester, do me a favour and tell them Richard Gledhill sent you - we'll both get £50 each that way

Chris Lovell was the salesman I dealt with.

Reactions: 2

Andy

Discussion Starter · #15 · May 21, 2014

Richard Gledhill said:
If it's Drive Leicester, do me a favour and tell them Richard Gledhill sent you - we'll both get £50 each that way Chris Lovell was the salesman I dealt with.

Will do, thanks. I'm not sure if he'll make it as far as signing on the dotted line but he sounds pretty keen.

Reactions: 2

Andy

Discussion Starter · #16 · Jun 14, 2014

Finally got round to taking a look at an Ampera with my friend. The one in the showroom was an electron model in crystal red. Generally he was quite impressed, some of his comments were:-

* Thought it looked great "sporty".
* External size a bit bigger than expected.
* Interior space a tad disappointing.
* Sitting a lot lower than the i3 (which we drove there in) but the battery pack between passengers and the large centre console left a feeling of being quite packed in.
* Decent luggage space.
* A lot of car for the money with the new reduced offers (which it is!).

Next up will be an extended test drive which I'm sure will help persuade him to go for it. Thanks again for the help in this thread, which I passed on.

Reactions: 2

h8ten

· #17 · Jun 14, 2014

I hope you meant passed on (forwarded) an not passed on (ignored).

Reactions: 1

Chris Kemp

· #18 · Jun 14, 2014

My dealer didnt say anything about the pick up service...that woukd be a resukt for me, as the nearest Ampera dealer is an hour away from me!

hopbackguy

· #19 · Jun 14, 2014

Mines in Bournemouth, about the hour, same as you, outside rush hour. The pick up service us a must.

Grasshopper

· #20 · Jun 8, 2017

Al

Richard Gledhill said:
I got 55.6mpg sitting at 65mph on the M1 and M69 yesterday over about 60 miles - remarkably efficient for a small petrol engine in a large car!

I have had my Ampera a few weeks, its a second car so not using it much until I can put a cherished number on it so waiting for the V5 to come back, but absolutely love it. Although not answering your question exactly, let me give you my experience with respect to Ampera economy. I went from Solihull less than half charged showing only 15 miles electric range to Coventry and back and combined mpg showed as 101 for the whole journey. In short I'm amazed, but its not all about the economy. Its a really nice experience. As I mentioned on another post, a ICE car raced past, and seemed really outdated. I've got a little sports car that gives me 30mpg if that, but realistically I'm starting to think the Ampera is all I need.

Reactions: 2

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