GM eyes Merseyside plant for electric car

By John Griffiths
Published: July 23 2008 03:00

Vauxhall's Ellesmere Port plant on Merseyside is being studied as the possible European production centre for General Motors' revolutionary Volt electric car, it emerged yesterday.
The Volt, which is powered by advanced batteries and an electric motor coupled to a small petrol engine to extend its range, has potential fuel costs as low as £100 a year. It is due to be launched in North America in 2010.
The prospect of the Merseyside plant being used for the venture was raised yesterday by Carl-Peter Forster, president of GM Europe, after a meeting with Gordon Brown at the British motor show. The prime minister announced the government would put up £90m in funding over the next five years to support electric, hybrid and other environmentally clean car projects.
Mr Forster, who said GM would be "seriously considering" Ellesmere Port, indicated that a climate of tangible government goodwill towards the project would be influential in making a decision.
To date GM has given no estimates of likely production volumes for the Volt either in North America or Europe. However, there is much enthusiasm within GM for the project, which offers potentially substantial reductions in carbon dioxide emissions while freeing drivers from some of the pain of soaring petrol and diesel prices. Company officials said that only a single European plant would be required to build the Volt under all three of its planned brand names: Opel, Vauxhall and Chevrolet.
Well advanced in its development, the Volt has a range of 40-50 miles on batteries alone after a four-hour charge, but can travel much further as a result of additional engine - petrol or diesel - kicking in to provide recharging on the move.
There is considerable industry research to suggest that a large percentage of motorists cover an average of less than 50 miles in a day. Anyone fitting this category could therefore have an annual fuel bill for off-peak electricity of less than £150, GM engineers believe.
Company executives indicated to the FT yesterday that the Volt could have a list price in the UK of around £20,000, several thousand pounds dearer than an equivalent petrol or diesel Astra. However this could be fairly quickly offset by reduced fuel costs, exemption from congestion charges and much lower vehicle excise duty.
The Volt is claimed to emit little more than 50 grammes of carbon dioxide per kilometre, less than half that of a "hybrid" vehicle.
The £90m investment plan was the most important of a raft of initiatives to encourage "green" motoring at the show at London's ExCel Centre in Docklands, where the prime minister, Ruth Kelly, transport secretary, and John Hutton, business secretary, met automotive and energy industry executives.
Setting out the prospect of large-scale installation of electric vehicle charging points in "thousands" of British streets, Gordon Brown said the oil price surge had opened up "a huge opportunity for technological innovation . . . a once-in-a-generation opportunity". Industry and government officials suggest electric car recharging could become an opportunity for supermarkets and other retail outlets.
Richard Milne talks to the head of GM Europe at www.ft.com/view
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008