[Rhodrons]

I hope that I am soon to get an Ampera as my next company car.
1) Has anyone found a bike rack that fits to the car
2) I assume that it is possible to stow two reasonable size suitcases in the boot but the luggage cover seems somewhat limited - more g-string than boxer shorts - or am I missing something
3) Is there any reason not to get the Positiv? I gather that the Electron's SatNav is limited and I have a TomTom anyway. I tend to listen to Radio 4 and Classic FM and do not need feel the need for a quality sound system.

Any views would be welcomed.

 

[Geoff1947]

1. Can't help with the bike rack
2. Yes the boot will accommodate two suitcases, but yes the cover is rubbish! My wife and i have made a better leatherette cover, but it's difficult to support it. We are still working on that!
3. I bought the electron, and up to now haven't had any problems with the sat nav, apart from the irritating voice!. The Electron also has the hard disk, but it takes ages to load CDs onto it, and as I have a USB stick with over a thousand tracks on it, then I don't bother with the HDD. The Electron has Bose energy efficient speakers that use 50% less energy than normal speakers! but I can't imagine this makes much difference to the miles per charge. And of course you have the DVD player which is ok if you want to sit in a car park watching DVDs!

I'm not sure the Electron is really worth the extra £2k. I think they could have added extras like folding door mirrors for the price difference.

 

[Paul_Moxhay]

We bought the Electron but if we were to buy again I would get an Positiv.

The sound system is good but then again the sound of the Positiv is pretty good too. The power saving speakers are a total gimmick and won't get you any more range.

The SatNav is rubbish and we use our £100 TomTom instead!

We never use the hard disk as we don't listen to our own music collection in the car.

Never used the DVD and can't ever see us doing so.

My view is that if you want a car with all that, as we thought we did, then go for it, but in my opinion get the Positiv and a good TomTom/Garmin (other makes of GPS are available ) and have a holiday with what you save

 

[hopbackguy]

I've tried several times to find a bike rack. Its very problematical. You can't just go to the Thule site and pick the bits (at least not when I last checked) as the Ampera wasn't listed. Its a while since I've looked, I remember at one point, by looking at the US site for a Chevy Volt, I found foot and bracket parts for the roof that would supposedly fit, to which I could mount my existing Thule bike carriers , but I wasn't willing to splash the cash at the time to buy bits that potentially wouldn't fit, so I put it off until this spring to look again!
I did find a hatch mounting rack for carrying bikes but it was of a 'universal' type and I wasn't happy that it wouldn't foul somewhere, like the spoiler.

 

[George Jetson]

I'm starting to get used to the sat nav but would go back to Tom Tom in a flash. You might find it sits in the top dashboard storage quite well.
I thought I would use the hard drive but haven't so far as I find the iPod controls very easy - I'd probably buy an iPod classic to keep in the car instead.
I do think the sound quality is great but based on your comments I would stick with the Positiv - it's possible a car stereo specialist might be able to upgrade the speakers if you felt you needed it.
Wild guess - you might be able to cover this with £500.