Opel Ampera-E In Paris

In Elon Musk/Tesla-like fashion, Opel decided to drive the Ampera-E from London to Paris to appear on the stage at the 2016 Paris Motor Show.

Tesla has staged a similar event before, but this is a first for Opel.

From Opel's press release:

"During his speech at the Opel press conference Dr.Neumann said: “Here is our all-new Opel Ampera-e! ‘Das Elektroauto!’ The electric vehicle for everyone! The new Ampera-e redefines electric mobility by tackling the biggest hurdle: range. Based on a couple of preliminary NEDC tests, the vehicle is capable of running more than 500 kilometers on one charge....We will introduce the car in Europe in the first half of next year.”

But here's the part on driving the Ampera-E to the show:

"During the press conference, Dr. Neumann also revealed that, as proof of the range, an Ampera-e drove the distance from London to Paris – 417 kilometers on the road – on a single battery-charge last weekend. And the batteries were still not empty when it arrived at the venue of the “Mondial de l’Automobile“. The on-board computer showed a remaining range of 80 kilometers thus demonstrating that the Ampera-e can achieve a range of around 500 kilometers under everyday traffic conditions."

Converting to miles, that works out to driving 259 miles with the computer showing 50 miles of range remaining, or a theoretical total range on this drive of approximately 309 miles. That easily beats out the EPA range rating of the Bolt/Ampera-E duo of 238 miles and still far exceeds the city rating of 255 miles, but is in line with Bolt first-drive reports that claim 290 miles is well within reach.

Opel concluded this part of the press release with this statement: