125 years of automotive engineering at Opel: Pioneer in electromobility
Opel started automobile production 125 years ago. The history of electromobility at the company began relatively early on. It began for Opel at the end of the 1960s. While students were loudly filling the streets with their protests in many places, resourceful engineers realized the brand's first hybrid vehicle in 1968. The Kadett "Stir-Lec I" had a drive technology that was as unusual as it was progressive at the time: a Stirling engine in the rear produced electricity that supplied a generator with energy, which in turn charged 14 lead batteries placed in the front of the Kadett.
E-mobility remained a topic for the Rüsselsheim developers in the years to come - the next exclamation mark was set by Dr. Georg von Opel in 1971 with the electric GT at the Hockenheimring. The trade magazine "mot" wrote at the time of a "silent hunt" when Adam Opel's youngest grandson set six world records on the Grand Prix circuit with an Opel GT converted into an electric car. The GT reached a top speed of 188.86 km/h over the flying kilometer, and the modified sports car averaged 126.89 km/h over ten kilometers.
With his record-breaking runs, Georg von Opel was way ahead of his time. He already saw electromobility as a potential alternative to conventional drive systems - after all, the oil price crisis was casting its first shadows on the combustion engine. However, the technology was not yet ready for mass production at the time.
Opel took the next steps towards electromobility with the "Impuls" research project, which started in 1989 and ran until 1999. Initially, the developers built a three-door Kadett that reached a top speed of 100 km/h and could travel 80 kilometers on a single charge. Opel took part in the "Project to test the latest generation of electric vehicles on the island of Rügen", which was carried out on the Baltic Sea island between fall 1992 and summer 1996, with a significantly enhanced drive system. The aim of the large-scale trial, which was sponsored by the German government, was to investigate the suitability of electric cars for everyday use. The Astra Caravan "Impuls" used by Opel covered a total of around 300,000 kilometers without any problems. The final stage was a fleet of ten Astra Caravan "Impuls 3", which were successfully used in Aachen, Liège and Maastricht from 1997 to 1999 as part of an EU-funded project.
At the end of the 1990s, Opel also began developing vehicles with fuel cell technology. The first model was the Hydrogen1, which was based on the Zafira van. Two more models followed: the Hydrogen3 (2002) and the Hydrogen4 (2006).
The hydrogen fuel cell drive is currently being used in light commercial vehicles from the Stellantis Group, to which Opel has belonged for several years. The Group's development center for fuel cell drive systems is also located in Rüsselsheim.
In addition to the foray into the world of hydrogen drive, a new electric drive concept was developed in Rüsselsheim, which was presented at the Geneva Motor Show in 2009 and was available as a series model at dealerships two years later. The Opel Ampera was the first electric car suitable for everyday use and was named European "Car of the Year" in 2012. The Ampera was powered by a 111 kW (150 hp) electric motor and supported by a 16 kWh lithium-ion battery. When the battery's charge level approached a certain level, an 86 hp (63 kW) combustion engine switched on and drove a generator, which took over the power supply. The Ampera therefore knew no range anxiety and achieved ranges of more than 500 kilometers. The successor Ampera-e came onto the market in 2017 as a fully electric model and drove 423 kilometers on one battery charge according to the WLTP measurement method. The battery was placed flat in the underbody so that space was not restricted. With the Opel e-Rally Cup and the Corsa, the world's first all-electric one-make rally cup was also created three years ago.
Opel now offers an all-electric version in every model series. The range extends from the small Rocks Electric, which 15-year-olds are already allowed to drive, to the Corsa, Combo, Astra, Mokka and the new Frontera and Grandland, through to the large Zafira and the Movano and Vivaro vans, which are also available with fuel cell drive. Further electric models will follow in the coming years. From 2028, Opel will only offer vehicles with battery-electric drives in Europe. (aum)
More info for topic: Opel , Elektromobilität , 125 Automobilbau
Share this article:
Images of article
Opel Corsa Electric.
Photo: Autoren-Union Mobilität/Opel
Download: