Now that British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has pledged some £90 million for the development of clean vehicles in the U.K., General Motors is seeing plenty to like about the European market for its E-Flex vehicles. The automaker has already reversed its stance on building the electric cars in America and shipping them overseas, with the Ellesmere Port plant now being considered for Opel and Vauxhall EVs. Just how many electric cars could GM sell in Europe? According to Bob Lutz, plenty. In fact, GM believes it could move as many as 30,000 units in the first year of availability, with the worldwide figure of one million by 2020.

While those sales targets are pretty ambitious, so are the goals of Gordon Brown. If the Prime Minister has things his way, all new cars sold in Britain by 2020 will be electric. Oh, and built in the U.K. (editor's note: FAT CHANCE!), which could become a small step closer to reality if GM decides to go with the Ellesmere Port factory.


[Source: Times Online]

Click above for a high-res gallery of the Opel Flextreme

The internal debate over whether the upcoming Volt will be badged as a Chevrolet or an Opel across the pond has been decided. The first Euro-bound EV's from the General will be Opels, though we are not sure how much in common the vehicle will share with the Flextreme concept. Carl-Peter Forster, president of GM Europe, indicates that a Vauxhall version is also in the works (this would be nothing more than a right hand drive variant for the British market) and that all three of the vehicles will be quite similar in design. A gasoline range-extending powerplant will see shared duty in the trio as well, though we would expect a diesel option in Europe at least at some point.

For the forseeable future, all three E-Flex variants will be built at the same factory in Detroit, and Europeans should expect to see the Opel in 2012. Of course, the extended-range electric car will carry a price premium, with a €10,000 bump over a comparable gas engined vehicle currently being thrown around. We hope that the Volt and its clones will prove popular enough to see that cost premium dwindle somewhat as the cost of batteries drops and allow the General to make a few bucks in the process.


[Source: Automotive News - sub. req'd]

Click above for a high-res gallery of the Opel Flextreme

A while back, there were rumblings from Opel that the European brand from GM was considering entering the micro car segment currently occupied by vehicles like the smart fortwo and the upcoming Toyota iQ. That rumored vehicle was to be powered by a repurposed motorcycle engine, much like what has been said concerning the budding Toyota model. Now, though, it sounds as if those plans have been scrapped as Opel now sees the largest growth markets coming from normal entry-level vehicles and über-luxury vehicles, classes which bookend the auto industry.

According to GM of Europe's leader, Carl-Peter Forster, Opel is still hard at work on its hybrid model, which was previewed by the Flextreme concept. GM's head in America, Rick Wagoner, echoed that comment but added that there could be more electric vehicles coming from Opel than just the Flextreme. All of these electric vehicles would be based on the E-Flex drivetrain which will underpin future GM vehicles like the Flextreme and Chevy Volt.


[Source: Just-Auto - sub. req'd]

Following his speech to the Commonwealth Club a few days ago, GM CEO Rick Wagoner apparently told reporters that a second E-Flex platform vehicle was also under development at the company's Warren MI technical center alongside the Chevy Volt. This second ER-EV is destined for the Opel (and presumably Saturn) brand. Following the debut of the Volt in January 2007, GM has shown two other E-Flex concepts, the Opel/Saturn Flextreme and the Cadillac Provoq. The Provoq is expected to make the production transition in 2009 as a conventionally-powered crossover.

The Flextreme, however, carries some of the design language of the new Opel Insignia that was recently revealed. The significantly more aerodynamic Flextreme also carries the hatchback/wagon type body shape that is more popular in Europe. An Opel-badged model would likely have an appearance similar to the Flextreme but with more conventional style body openings and without the pair of Segways in the back. It's unknown at this point what type of range extender would be used with the Opel although the concept used a diesel.

So far we've only found one source for this report of a second E-Flex vehicle and we're still waiting to hear back from GM for any confirmation or comments on any of this. As soon as we here back we'll provide updates.

[Source: Green Car Congress]

Click the photo for a high-res gallery of the Opel Flextreme concept

The inclusion of a pair on-board Segway scooters may have been a questionable design decision for the Opel Flextreme concept, but the packaging was certainly well integrated. The back end of Flextreme has a compartment behind the bumper that holds the scooters and provides charging ports that ensure they are charged when you need them.

While no one from the ABG team was on site in Frankfurt this week, our partners over on the Autoblog side of the house were there and they got photos of the Flextreme reveal. Those photos have now been added to the Flextreme gallery where the ramp that drops down can be clearly seen. If the Segways are discarded, this would make a nice concealed storage area for the stuff you want to keep out of sight.

Click the Opel Flextreme for a high-res gallery

GM has released some videos that provide some background on the designers who created the Opel Flextreme. The Flextreme is the third variation of GM's E-Flex platform that uses a diesel range extender in place of the previous Flex-Fuel engine. You can check out the videos after the jump.

[Source: GM Studio Stories, thanks to Chris for the tip]

Click the Flextreme for a high-res gallery

We all got an early look at the Opel Flextreme after the images leaked onto the web the other night. In case you missed it, the Flextreme is Opel's interpretation of the E-Flex architecture that debuted last January in Detroit. Unlike the low-slung, almost coupe-like sedan shape of the Chevy Volt, the Opel features a similarly sleek mono-box shape. The more utilitarian wagon/hatch body style has always been popular in the European market where smaller more efficient cars dominate.

When General Motors gave us the first glimpse of E-Flex just before the Detroit Show, they emphasized the flexibility of the power-train architecture. As a system that is designed to be primarily electrically driven, the AC motor and battery packs are common across all variants. But as we move into a future where world-wide energy demands are increasing and petroleum gets more expensive, locally-soursed fuels will become the norm.

Full details of the Flextreme after the jump.

[Source: General Motors]

Our gadget-obsessed pals over at Engadget want to know what you think of the Segway, or rather, how you would improve it. GM thinks it's a good idea to store them in the Opel Flextreme. I have been saying that the biggest problem about the Segway is the price. Would you agree? I think that if you break down the components inside the machine, it just doesn't add up. But, in this day and age of lawsuits, perhaps the insurance that the company must carry is prohibitively expensive. Who knows? Anyway, if you have an idea on how to make the Segway better, head on over to Engadget and post your thoughts in their comments. And feel free to post them here as well, I'd be interested to know what our readership in particular has to say!

[Source: Engadget]

Click the photo of the Opel Flextreme for a high res gallery

One of the most eagerly anticipated debuts of the upcoming Frankfurt Motor Show made an early debut this weekend thanks to another site that shall remain un-named. We present for your edification the third variant of the GM E-Flex platform, the Opel Flextreme. Like the Chevy Volt that appeared with a flex-fuel range extender in Detroit and with a fuel cell in Shanghai, the Flextreme is a series hybrid electric vehicle that can be plugged in and charged to yield a 40 mile range.

However since this is a European variant the Opel highlights the "flex" part of E-Flex by using a 1.3L four cylinder diesel to charge the lithium ion battery pack. The Flextreme also has a completely different body design switching from the sedan layout of the Volt to the more popular in Europe one-box hatch design. The car features a suicide door arrangement for the second row portals although this is unlikely to make it to production. Designers like this for concepts because it makes it easier to show off the interior on auto show stands.

The design does feature some of the elements of the GTC coupe concept that debuted last spring in Geneva such as the side panel shaping and the headlights. The side contours have also turned up on the spy photos of the next generation Vectra that is now expected to debut at Geneva in 2008. One other unique feature of the Flextreme is the integration of a pair of Segway scooters. As rumored, when the scooters are installed in their compartment in the back of the car, they are recharged from the on-board electrical system.

We'll have live pics and more details from Frankfurt on Monday and Tuesday.

[Source: General Motors]