Europcar has teamed up with Opel, and agreed a deal to offer the Ampera plug-in hybrid electric vehicle to its customers, by the end of 2011. Coinciding with the car’s official release, Europcar will make it available to its German customers in November, followed by outlets in Belgium and the Netherlands. The likes of France, Italy, Portugal, Spain and the UK will have to wait until 2012.
The Ampera’s lithium-ion battery pack feeds a 111 kW/150 hp electric drive unit to deliver between 40 and 80 km of pure electric operation with zero emissions – depending on driving conditions – when fully charged. If driven exclusively in battery mode, it uses no fuel and produces no emissions. For longer journeys, a petrol engine powers a generator that supplies the necessary electricity. This allows the Ampera to travel distances of over 500 km.
[Source: Opel]