New Opel Car

 This week, at the gym parking lot....we saw two of these.  Opel E-car Rocks. 

So the introduction has started.

Cost?  Around 8.000 Euro.  Two person car.  Top speed of 45 kph.  Licensed at a rate for a German 15-year old kid to drive (yeah, both cases I noted the car....it was obvious that it was a 15 to 16 year old kid).

5.5 Kwh.....around 3.5 hours to re-charge.

Range?  Opel says 75 km (46 miles).

No AC.....far as I can tell....marginal heat, and no power windows.  Just plain raw e-transportation.

Selling this?  Well....I sat and looked at the cost factor.  These German 15-year old kids?  They probably are upper class kids, and Oma gave them half the Euro.  For me?  If you said I'd get 150 km on one charge....I might be interested.  For my usual trips....that 75 km would travel over town, and I'd be worried about running out of juice.

Storage?  It's enough to put two shopping bags.  Beyond that....it's useless.

My gut feeling is that a thousand of them will be roaming the Wiesbaden streets over the next two years.  Mostly all driven by 15 to 20 year olds....maybe a few grandmas.  

But here's the thing.....there is a Opel E-xtreme version of the car....with a wild look....sport wheels.  It's a add-on 'kit'.  Pricing isn't readily available, but I would tend to guess at least 1,500 Euro....maybe even up to 2,500 Euro.  Yes, it comes with a rollbar, and off-road tires....which makes me wonder just how crazy the teenagers would get with this car.  

The suggestion is.....no mechanic required.  You'd get the kit in boxes and just apply it yourself.  

Cops getting crazy negative about the use of the car?  I would bet on that issue.

With the E-xtreme kit?  Yeah, I'd buy it unless the German wife said 'NO'.