Left-Hand Drive Leaves Holden Out To Dry Over 2017 Ampera-e
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The 2017 Opel Ampera-e and 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV will be creating positive charge in much of the world, but not in Australia. Or the UK for that matter.
Vauxhall previously stated the 2017 Opel Ampera-e would not make the voyage to the United Kingdom, and Holden has now confirmed its position, too, according to Motoring. The simple reason? Clash of the steering wheel. The 2017 Bolt EV and Ampera-e were developed exclusively with left-hand drive in mind.
However, it’s likely a next-generation Bolt EV will have right-hand drive support, per a statement from Vauxhall chairman, Rory Harvey. Vauxhall will evaluate left-hand drive models for future interest and stated the brand was “committed to having a future EV presence in its range”.
Talking about the next-generation of a vehicle that has yet to even launch is pretty lofty. It seems the UK and Oz will have some time to kill before an affordable EV reaches the market.
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Another big blunder by GM, when will they ever learn & it should have happened years ago – EVERY GM CAR SHOULD BE DESIGNED FOR LEFT OR RIGHT HAND DRIVE – PERIOD. How is it every other volume manufacturer in the world can do it but not GM? The so called total culture change at GM obviously has a long way to go – Sorry Mary but your report card for this year will read “Must do better”!
Absolutely agree – enormous oversight and missed opportunity. GM has just denied EV access to 35% of the world’s driving population, including India and nearly the whole of Central and Southern Africa, the former being one of the major global vehicle growth areas. Furthermore, EV sales in the UK are doubling every year and by the early 2020’s will account for circa 25%+ of the market. How much did GM save by not engineering the Bolt platform for RHD … $5M, maybe £10M at most? This is not just plain short-sightedness – it’s the accountants running completely blind like headless chickens once again.
You have to be in it to win it GM … no good joining the race when it’s three-quarters run. In the UK for 2016 YTD, Tesla has so far sold 733 of the Model S alone with a starting price of £50,400/$70,700!
Have bought Vauxhall cars for decades. This short-sighted launch of their first proper EV is very disappointing. Looks like Nissan will be first to uk with a reasonably priced longer range ev. By the time Vauxhall get here they will be playing catch up. Goodbye Vauxhall.
“It seems the UK and Oz will have some time to kill before an affordable EV reaches the market.”
No, just some time ’til an affordable GM EV reaches the market. Any by time it finally does, hundreds of thousands will have bought somebody else’s affordable EV and be ready almost certainly to buy their second from the same manufacturer.