
With a fully charged battery, the Flextreme has an operating range of 55 kilometers when running purely on electrical power, and only requires a standard 220 V mains socket to recharge the battery in around three hours. Commuters in Europe have an average commute of less than 50 kilometers, so if they were to charge the car up overnight and during the day, they could drive over 100 km each day without producing any CO2 emissions. “Commutes to major city-centers in Europe will do nothing but grow more challenging in the future, ",” says Robert A. Lutz, GM Vice Chairman, Global Product Development, “and we see E-Flex vehicles as an elegant solution for commuters.” Bob Lutz sees the Opel Flextreme Concept vehicle as “a natural for the Opel brand in Europe, where it has long been known for technological innovation and strong design.”
The E-Flex system is not just a vision of GM – it is already fully integrated into product development. It enables different propulsion systems to be fitted into one uniform chassis with electric propulsion. Fuel cells or bioethanol/diesel engines can also be fitted as secondary propulsion units depending on what energy source is readily available in the driver’s area.
The timetable for series production is closely tied to the development of key technologies, such as high-performance lithium-ion batteries. E-Flex Chief Engineer Frank Weber is confident about its further development: “We fully intend to bring this technology to market,” says Weber. “we’re increasingly confident that our strategic battery partners will be able to deliver a production-ready battery in the near future.” . . . more including specifications