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Opel Electric Vehicle Rendered Based on Chevy Bolt As GM Commits to Greener Cars

Opel's big bosses have made it clear that they won't re-badge the second-generation Volt plug-in because it failed to attract European customers. Instead, they say, the German automaker will introduce a bespoke EV to fight the BMW i3 and Volkswagen e-Golf.
Opel Electric Vehicle Rendering 1 photo
Photo: RM.Design
But let's be serious about this. General Motors has always been, and will continue to be, all about pinching the pennies, so it's likely that Opel will re-badge another new Chevrolet model, the Bolt.

This all-new EV is likely to debut in January at the Detroit Auto Show or at the 2016 Consumer Electronics Show. After that, journalists will go back and forth with Opel CEO Karl-Thomas Neumann until he finally admits the Bolt will make the trans-Atlantic trip.

GM even has an official section of its Chevrolet website to keep people updated about the Bolt. There, they’ve promised that the Bolt will be able to travel 200 miles on a single charge and will cost roughly $30,000. But that includes incentives and such. Will people pay that much for a compact car just because it's electric? We think not, especially when the Nissan Leaf and Renault Zoe are far cheaper.

We already have a good idea of what the Chevrolet Bolt will look like because of a concept car Chevrolet previously presented. However, recent spy photos have shown that the Bolt looks even more futuristic, thanks to an abundance of chromed surfaces and a raked boot straight out of Star Trek. However, we're showing you a rendering that previews the Opel model that's been made by RM Design using bits from the i3 and Astra K.

Inside, the center touch screen will be even larger than that of the Volt, but there will only be space enough for four people and not a lot of luggage.

The small EV from Opel could be called the Trixx, after a concept car that was revealed in 2004 and whose name has been trademarked by the company. Both it and the Bolt will be assembled at the GM Orion plant.
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About the author: Mihnea Radu
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Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida.
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