OPEL AMPERATiming chain or Belt?

The Opel Ampera (Vauxhall Ampera in the UK) is a C-segment compact car manufactured by General Motors under the German brand Opel. The Ampera is a hybrid / electric vehicle. The Opel Ampera is exactly the same vehicle as the Chevrolet Volt. The only difference is the markets to which these two cars are targeted. GM sold the Volt exclusively in North America. The Opel Ampera was the variant marketed in Europe. The same vehicle was sold as a Vauxhall in the UK. In other markets such as Australia, the Volt was used and sold under the Holden brand, also owned by the Americans.

The platform on which the Opel Ampera is built is the GM Delta II. There are a large number of General Motors vehicles built on this platform, which is why the Ampera shares components with cars such as the Chevrolet Cruze, Buick Verano, Opel Zafira Tourer C, or Chevrolet Cavalier, among many others. This car has 2 generations, with the second being fully electric and named Ampera-e.

The first-generation Ampera was General Motors' bet on the new market that opened up when all manufacturers turned to hybridization. Its main alternatives were the Honda Insight and the Toyota Prius. The engine was a naturally aspirated 1.4-liter, but all the car's importance comes from the electric side. The Ampera is what is considered an ER-EV or extended-range plug-in hybrid. The engine acts solely as an electricity generator. Therefore, the car operates exactly as if it were electric thanks to a CVT transmission. Sales of the Ampera were nothing remarkable despite the investment made by General Motors in the model.

Following poor sales figures, General Motors decided to bet on a 100% electric model. It would arrive in 2017 as the Opel Ampera-e. This model has a total of 60 kWh of battery and a range of about 520 kilometers. The bodywork was designed from scratch, getting closer to a minivan or at least a crossover. Although it lost in aesthetics, the change allowed it to house the battery cells more efficiently and distribute the weight more homogeneously.