The German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy has given a statement on the planned battery cell production capacity at the Opel site in the southwest of Germany: they aim for 24 GWh. The relevant cell technology is currently still being developed in France by Saft, where a sister plant is to produce the […]

Shortly before the market launch of the Corsa-e, Opel has significantly reduced the prices for the all-electric Ampera-e in the Netherlands. The Business version is now available from 34,149 euros instead of 44,799 euros.

France’s head of state Emmanuel Macron and Germany’s research minister Anja Karliczek have given the official go-ahead for a battery cell pilot production in a factory of the manufacturer Saft in Nersac, southwest France. The pilot plant is scheduled to go into operation in mid-2021.

The Hamburg police have received the first seven of a total of 16 radio patrol cars with electric drive. They are the Opel Ampera-e. According to the police, the electric fleet will be used mainly for traffic surveillance as part of the local presence.

One year after the announcement of the “Electric City” project in Germany, which will provide a total of 1,300 charging points for the city of Rüsselsheim, Opel has set up the 350 charging points for fleet vehicles on the company campus.

After the all-wheel-drive Grandland X Plug-in Hybrid, Opel’s part-time EVs are now also available as front-wheel-drive models. The new variant starts in Germany at a gross list price of €43,440 and is therefore exactly €6,500 cheaper than its AWD counterpart.

Groupe PSA has named Pod Point as its exclusive charge point supplier for its business in the UK. Electric cars from Peugeot, Vauxhall, DS Automobile, and Citroën will be offered alongside chargers from Pod Point following the signing of a two-year deal.

This week, the EU Commission gave the go-ahead for what is being called “the battery alliance” in seven European countries. Subsidies were approved for 32 GWh battery cell production with PSA and Saft at the Opel factory in Kaiserslautern, Germany and an identical plant in France, making a total production capacity of 64 GWh.

The European Commission has now approved funding totalling 3.2 billion euros for pan-European research and innovation projects by seven Member States in all segments of the battery value chain. Among others, Opel and BMW will benefit from the funds.

From 2020 onwards, PSA will include the production of battery packs for electric and hybrid cars at its Figueruelas plant near Saragossa. The French automakers will also start producing purely electric cars in 2020 in all its Spanish plants Figueruelas, Vigo and Madrid.

Opel has announced that it will be starting the world’s first electric one-make rally trophy with a racing car based on the Corsa-e from last summer. In the meantime, there have been some updates to the vehicle and schedule of the ADAC Opel e-Rally Cup.

The French PSA Group has now confirmed that from next year, in addition to the Opel Vivaro, the Peugeot Expert and Citroën Jumpy models will also be available on the market as purely electric van variants.

Vitesco Technologies, the former Powertrain division of Continental, has announced the signing of an agreement to supply the first fully integrated drive system for several PSA and Hyundai mass production models.

At a joint press conference, Germany’s Economics Minister Peter Altmaier and his French counterpart Bruno Le Maire gave details of the first Franco-German battery cell consortium. Above all, the timeline is becoming more concrete.

At the IAA, Opel presented the Corsa-e and Grandland X Plug-in-Hybrid, as well as the Corsa-e Rally. The Germans further announced the next steps of their electric offensive concerning light commercial vehicles.

The Corsa-e is equipped with a three-phase 11 kW on-board charger and can charge up to 100 kW DC. Now, Opel has now provided further information on charging cables, the myOpel app and the charge pass Charge My Car.

Affordable prices through economies of scale – this is what Opel wants to achieve in cooperation with PSA and Dongfeng through new platforms for electric cars and plug-in hybrids. Unlike the VW Group’s MEB, the trio wants to remain flexible. Christoph M. Schwarzer takes a close look at the strategy.

The Chevrolet Bolt now has a slightly increased range of up to 259 miles (approx. 417 km) in the new model year. The battery capacity was slightly increased thanks to a new cell chemistry.

Opel has announced the world premiere of a battery-powered rally car based on the Corsa-e for the IAA. Next year will see the start of the ADAC Opel e-Rally Cup, the world’s first one-brand cup for electric vehicles, at least when it comes to rally.

The next generation of the Opel Astra will be produced from 2021 in two European plants, including the brand’s traditional home of Rüsselsheim in Germany. PSA, the works council and IG Metall have agreed on the plan. It is also possible that an electrified version will be built at the Rüsselheim plant.

To stimulate domestic battery cell production, the German Federal Ministry of Economics will most likely fund three consortia a total of 1 billion euros ($1.12 billion USD). Of these, only the project of Peugeot, Opel and the battery manufacturer Saft has been confirmed by name.

The new Peugeot 208 and its all-electric version e-208 can now be ordered from all dealers and branches of the brand in Germany. For the e-208, Peugeot is calling for an entry-level price of 30,450 euros. Deliveries are scheduled to start at the end of this year.

For the first time, Opel is offering a purely battery-electric vehicle with the new sixth Corsa generation. The Corsa-e can now be ordered starting from 29,900 euros. Deliveries are scheduled to start in spring 2020.

The German BMBF, that is the Ministry for Education, plans to decide on the location of a research factory for cell production on June 7. Moreover, the German government is also planning to pay the first half of the money for the planned cell production factories this June as well.

Following initial plans to present the vehicle in June, the first photos of the next-gen electric Corsa model have leaked. In response, Opel now presented its Corsa-e in detail.

PSA-owned Opel/Vauxhall presents the Grandland X SUV as plug-in hybrid variant just a day after announcing the all-electric Corsa to debut on 4 June. Orders for the Grandland X will open later this year and build on Peugeot’s 3008 hybrid.

The new generation of the Opel Corsa will celebrate its world premiere on 4 June to come as a fully electric version from then on. In an interview, Opel CEO Michael Lohscheller promised an “attractive price” for the E-Corsa. He did not specify any details but substantial plans.

The Franco-German initiative announced last December for setting up a battery cell production facility is becoming concrete. The economic ministries of both countries have now proposed the alliance as the first consortium for funding from the EU Commission.

At the Birmingham Commercial Vehicle Show, the French PSA Group is currently offering a preview of future electric versions of the large Peugeot Boxer and Citroën Jumper vans, which are to be offered with two battery versions.

Opel has allowed a preview of the third generation of its Vivaro van. The new model will be available from dealers in late summer, and you can expect the battery-electric version to follow in 2020.