Clean Green Cars: REPORT: Opel Ampera pricing hint suggests Chevy Volt might cost $35,000

REPORT: Opel Ampera pricing hint suggests Chevy Volt might cost $35,000

Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Hybrid, Chevrolet, GM, Opel, Green Daily, Europe/EU

Opel Ampera concept and one of the Cruze mules - click above for high-res image gallery

As we mentioned the other day, Opel is testing Ampera ER-EV mules in Germany on the way to the plug-in car’s 2011 debut. Swiss news outlet the Tages-Anzeiger caught up with Open engineer Gherardo Corsini and learned a few new details about the European Chevy Volt that may help us learn more about the U.S. version that’s coming at the end of 2010. Specifically, that the car’s electric motor offers 370 Nm and 150 PS, the lithium-ion battery is made up of 220 individual cells. As in the U.S. test drives, the car is currently running solely off the battery pack. The range extender is not yet fully integrated. The full powertrain should be available for testing later this fall.

Opel boss Hans Demant refused to give an exact price for the Ampera, but the Tages-Anzeiger writes that he said in order for the Ampera to be a success, it shouldn’t cost more than a fully-outfitted diesel Opel Zafira with automatic transmission. The Zafira 1.9 CDTI Cosmo Auto costs 44,300 Francs. As of today, this would mean a price in U.S. dollars of $41,800, in line with other numbers we’ve heard. Note, though, that this price is without the $7,500 rebate that will be available to Volt buyers in the U.S., which might (repeat, might) mean the Volt becomes a $35,000 car here. Maybe.

Gallery: Opel Ampera-Cruze test mules