Chevy Volt morphs into Euro-focused Opel Ampera

GM has already confirmed the Volt electric car will be sold here from 2012 wearing Holden badges (more here), and the General also has plans to give Europe its own version of the enviro champion.

The Opel Ampera -- as it will be known -- will make its debut at the Geneva motor show (which opens to the public from March 5 to 15).

The Europe-focused concept retains the five-door, four-seat configuration of the Volt, but this teaser shot indicates the Opel will be distinguished by a different nose with a grille and headlight treatment that are unique to the car.

However, beneath the tautly sculpted skin lurks the same powertrain as the Volt.

For short trips up to 60km, the Ampera runs only on lithium-ion battery power charged via a standard 230v outlet, and the range is extended via a 1.4-litre four-cylinder petrol engine that drives a 53kW generator (which subsequently sends charge to the batteries or the electric motor).

GM argues the Ampera will be well suited to the daily driving schedule of most European customers, and points to the statistic that approximately 80 per cent of German drivers travel less than 50 km daily.

"With the Ampera, Opel will be the first European automobile manufacturer to provide customers several hundred kilometers of non-stop electric driving," said GM Europe chief marketing officer Alain Visser.

The Chevy Volt goes on sale in the US next year wearing a sticker price in the region of $US40,000 ($60K in our money), so it won't exactly be a high-volume proposition, but it's shaping as a significant vehicle nonetheless.

Meanwhile, you can expect to see more of the car in the upcoming Hollywood blockbuster Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, in which it plays an autobot character named Jolt.