Opel ecoFLEX Experience Enters Second Phase

After in mid-March German carmaker Opel announced the start of the ecoFLEX Experience, a competition meant for drivers who want to show "their fuel efficiency smarts," the carmaker came back on the subject to give us an update and announce the start of the second phase of the competition.

So far, Opel says 25,000 have registered to take part in the competition and have a chance of winning the big prize, the first Opel Ampera cars ever built. Until now, the competition has been limited to some type of role-play, testing their skills in an online-quiz. The hard part, putting theory into practice, only now begins.

According to the carmaker, participants will check their knowledge and skills through various phases in a virtual driving course on an Internet simulator. One driver from each of the 20 participating countries will be selected to take part in a multi-day event in Sweden this summer. The final green battle will take place at the Sturup Raceway in Malmo. The winner, as said, gets the Ampera, for free.

For the task, Opel will provide the wannabe Ampera owners models from its ecoFLEX series, including the Corsa 1.3 CDTI ecoFLEX and the Astra 1.3 CDTI ecoFLEX. Mind you, the Astra has a factory-claimed average of just 4.2 liters diesel per 100 kilometers, while the Corsa needs just 3.7 liters to go the same distance, so the competition might be harder than you think.

The competition is only open for drivers in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium, The Netherlands, Luxemburg, France, Spain, Portugal, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Poland, Slovenia, Turkey and Russia.