GM Europe boss talks about E-Flex plans
During the recent British Motor Show, GM Europe boss was expecting to get deluged with questions about the precarious financial situation at the home office in Detroit. To his surprise he found that the subject most of the European media were interested in was the status of E-Flex in Europe. For those just joining the conversation, E-flex is the extended range electric drive power-train architecture GM is developing for the Chevrolet Volt. Forster provides responses to some of the most common questions in a post on the GM Europe Blog, Driving Conversations today. Our friends across the pond will get their first chance to sample E-Flex vehicles about a year after the US launch. An Opel/Vauxhall branded E-Flex vehicle will be the first to appear in late 2011. Since Opel and Vauxhall in the UK are GM's volume divisions there, they will get the first ER-EVs while a Chevrolet branded vehicle will arrive a few months later. Those first Opel ER-EVs will be exported from the Detroit plant that is building the Volt but as production ramps up, additional capacity will be added in Europe. What Forster doesn't discuss is whether the Opel ER-EV will have the same styling as the Volt or a unique body, perhaps looking like the Flextreme concept that appeared at the 2007 Frankfurt Motor Show. Forster also didn't discuss the range extender which we have been told will be the same 1.4L gas engine that will appear in the production Volt. Clearly GM is counting heavily on E-Flex to help it meet future EU carbon dioxide emissions limits.
Gallery: 2007 Opel Flextreme concept
[Source: General Motors]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
doug 6:01PM (8/07/2008)
This is part of the Volt program people forget about. The entire program's success does not hinge solely on the Chevy Volt. GM is developing other additional vehicles based on the E-Flex architecture, which will spread the costs and risk.
I think GM is keeping its European E-Flex plans quiet in the US to shake down the government for tax breaks and subsidies on these cars.
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Das Boese 4:33PM (8/08/2008)
They can't bring E-Flex vehicles over here fast enough.
IMO the decision to wait one year and introduce a Euro variant independent of the Volt is maybe not that smart. I know there is a fear that the Volt's styling will be too "American" to be successful in Europe, but honestly, I don't think that's true. In the first few years it'll be a niche car anyway, and people in that market like a car with identity (example: Prius), which the Volt definitely has. Additionally, with the dollar low as it is and the way cars are taxed based on engine size and emissions in many countries, it may not even need any tax incentives.
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