GM won’t be producing a right-hand drive version of the Opel Ampera-e, but it has confirmed that a right-hand-drive electric car is under development for the future.
The official line regarding the Ampera-e is that the numbers just didn’t stack up.
“When the Chevrolet Bolt [which the Ampera-e is based on] was developed years ago, I think the whole electro-mobility market at the time was very tiny and niche,” Tina Muller, Opel’s marketing boss, told us at the Paris motor show. “The first focus was on the majority of the markets and the US and most of Europe are obviously left-hand [drive].”
The good news for anybody looking to combine a Vauxhall badge with electro-fuelled propulsion is that the company has already reconsidered its decision to exclude Britain, with Muller confirming that a right-hand drive electric model is under development.
“Now we realise that electro-mobility will become bigger and bigger and that’s why we need to do a second step, one that will include right-hand drive,” she said, “I can’t tell you exactly when it will hit the market, but for sure it’s part of our plans.”
She refused to confirm whether this will be a RHD version of the Ampera-E or a separate EV model, but regardless, it looks like the UK is going to have to wait for it.
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