Opel Finds Europe's Greenest Driver

The two-month long Opel ecoFLEX Experience competition debuted by the German manufacturer as a means to advertise its future Ampera vehicle came to a conclusion last week. Out of the 70,000 competitors which enlisted for the trial, 20 were selected to enter the final and only one won: Antonio Goncalves from Portugal.

To win Opel's recognition, the title of Europe's greenest driver and a brand new Opel Ampera (as soon as it comes available, of course), Goncalves had to prove he can drive in style, while burning as little fuel as possible.

The finale between the 20 competitors was held in Malmo, Sweden and had to compete in four different categories: city tour in a Corsa, cruising against the clock aboard a Insignia, longest distance aboard a Meriva with only a half liter of diesel in its tank and timed 20 laps with 1.6 liters of fuel in an Astra.

Goncalves achieved an average consumption of 4.25l/100 km (55 mpg) in the first event, 4.61 l/100 km in the second (51 mpg), covered 18.13 km (11 miles) in the Meriva and finished the 20 laps in 43 minutes and 20 seconds.

“I definitely wanted to win because I wanted that Ampera,” the winner said. “That’s why my main focus was to drive as consistently as possible.”

The top three winners included Yakup Pelit from Denmark, who won an Astra 1.3 CDTI ecoFLEX and Finn Keijo Tapio Leppavuori, who took home a Corsa 1.3 CDTI ecoFLEX.

As for the Ampera won by Goncalve, he'll have to wait a few more months to get it. The car will be launched in Europe in 2011.