Vauxhall going after city car market with Trixx EV?
Way back in 2004, GM's European arm put a toe in the water of the rapidly expanding city-car market with its Opel Trixx concept. A few years later, GM's Carl-Peter Forster indicated that the automaker would not be entering that microcar market after all. Fast forward another couple of years and (surprise!) it looks as if GM may be once again reversing its stance.According to Auto Express, Vauxhall is now planning a small urban vehicle to do battle with the smart fortwo, Toyota iQ and the upcoming Volkswagen Up!. If these rumors are to be believed, the Trixx will be based on GM's Voltec drivetrain but will completely eschew the range-extended 1.4-liter engine in favor of going fully electric with a goal of hitting a 90-mile range between charges.
You might think that dropping the internal combustion engine would make the car considerably cheaper, but that may not actually be the case. AE indicates that the lithium ion battery pack powering the Trixx could cost as much as £8,000 ($12,100 in U.S. dollars) per unit to make. To counteract the high cost of entry, Vauxhall may sell the actual car while offering a separate lease for the battery.
[Source: Auto Express]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
EU_reader 8:59AM (5/07/2009)
I wonder what will happen when Opel and Vauxhall get 'separated'. Opel being bought by a 3rd party, and vauxhall staying with GM.
Because they sell exactly the same cars. Will vauxhall have to develop their 'own' platforms? Who will keep the rights to the current Opel platforms? Will GM still be able to use them?
That being said, I hope this little car sells as Opel as well, because Vauxhall is only sold as right hand drive and in the UK. I'm not a UK citizen, so...
I live in a city, and i'm really interested in a concept like this one. 90 miles is more than enough. I only need a dry box to haul my ass to the city. :) Something between a 400cc scooter (still no good in the rain) and a normal car. This would be perfect. No longer the nuissances that go with ICE cars. Cold start-stop traffic, noise, pollution, ...
And keep a decent petrol car for weekends, longer trips, recreation and more volume.
I know it's a different culture, but here it could work. Now obviously you're all gonna flame this car because you think that the whole world has american mid-west driving habits. It's meant exactly for what it says it is: CITIES!! So don't go trashing this for usage it was never meant to do. If it doesn't suit you, move on. Nobody is forcing you to buy one. But for some it could be a reasonable little EXTRA car.
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Epyx 9:11AM (5/07/2009)
I agree with you 100% with one added caveat - it has to be cost effective. This type of vehicle is really cool as a way to economically transport one to work - just as you say. If it cost as much as a Honda Civic than it starts to make less sense.
I would like to have one for the exact reasons you describe - a great secondary car. But a secondary car with limited use has to be prices as such. If not, a used care becomes the better economic choice.
Bloke 9:15AM (5/07/2009)
The current platforms don't belong to Opel. They belong to GME and the Delta and Epsilon platforms - both engineered at Opel by GME - are used in other GM products around the world. The Corsa and upcoming second-gen Meriva use the SCCS platform in conjunction with Fiat while the Agila's platform is from Suzuki.
There are a raft of possibilities as to what might happen if the two separate. Worst-case scenario is that like lower Holden models, Vauxhalls get slapped with GM-DAT models. Best-case, and probably most likely, is that GM and Fiat will contract with one another to maintain the present line-ups, but those will gradually diverge as newer models developed by GM and Fiat are produced. Rumours are rife that Vauxhall will also contract with Holden to sell the Commodore in the UK to replace the defunct Signum.
Epyx 9:13AM (5/07/2009)
GM should also have a similar product in the US. Basically this is an updated EV1 - It should have been developed concurrently with the Volt and introduced a year before the Volt would hit the market. That would have been a nice 1 -2 punch.
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BoxerFanatic 10:14AM (5/07/2009)
I thought Trixx were for kids... but kids can't drive.
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Taglane 11:56AM (5/07/2009)
Aww. It's smiling....
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imoore 1:37PM (5/07/2009)
I say go for it, Vauxhall. Make it affordable and sensible. And seel one here in the US, please.
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