General Motors just unveiled the European variant of the all electric Chevrolet Bolt. The Opel Ampera-e is, just like its American brother, a 5 door midi-mpv the size of the latest Opel Meriva. While its most likely quite a bit cheaper than Tesla’s Model 3 (which will cost around 40 grand), its most impressive feat is without doubt the EV range. According to GM, it does 385 kilometres by EPA standards, which is more than 400 km in the NEDC-run.

The Ampera-e, which lent the name from the already existing Ampera (which is a plugin hybrid, not a full electric vehicle), is powered by a 60 KWh battery pack boosting 204 hp and 360 Nms of torque. To prevent drivers from depleting the juice all too quickly, top speed is limited to a modest 150 kp/h.

If GM were hoping to maximize sales of the new Opel / Chevy duo, it should stick to the promised release date of H1 2017, and keep the price of the cheapest variant below 30.000 euros. With these conditions fulfilled, we wouldn’t be surprised if an interesting amount of people opted out of their Model 3 reservations and brought their money to GM instead.

Dedicated Chevy Bolt page: http://www.chevrolet.com/bolt-ev-electric-vehicle.html