Opel Frontera highlights Europe’s problems with electric vehicles

• Opel says production costs in Germany will dramatically increase the price of its low-cost electric car.

• “Customers must be willing to pay for it,” they answer when asked why they don’t produce at home.

Opel has announced the Frontera. What was once a true all-terrain vehicle has today become a compact SUV with two hybrid versions, but above all a fully electric variant, the price of which should be below 25,000 euros, taking into account the brand’s own promotions.

On the horizon, thanks to promotions and assistance (MOVES III plan), the new Opel Frontera is expected to have variants in Spain. below 20,000 euros. The price is in line with other Stellantis units based on the STLA Small, the group’s small car platform.

“The client must be willing to pay for it”

In all-electric form, the new Opel Frontera is an interesting vehicle for driving in urban environments and, if necessary, for short weekend trips. Always assuming that this departure is a maximum of about 200 kilometers or that we will have to make a stop before reaching this figure in order to move calmly.

And the mechanical operation of this Opel Frontera is the same as that of the Citroën ë-C3. It is equipped with an 83 kW (113 hp) motor coupled with a 44 kWh battery and supports charging power of up to 100 kW.

With such a battery and assuming that the energy consumption on the highway is about 20 kW/100 km, we will be talking about a car. just over 200 kilometers of autonomy. The good thing is that, in the absence of tests, a recharge exceeding 80% of the available autonomy should not take more than 20 minutes.

That is, the Opel Frontera falls into that group of cars that can be purchased at a price of 20,000 to 25,000 euros, but which, however, will operate in the range of 200 kilometers of autonomy. And Opel does not want to lower the bar further because, in their words, the same car “cannot be produced in Germany.” At least, if not, then we are not ready to pay for it either.

These are the words of Florian Hüttl, CEO of Opel, who made some of these statements using the presentation of this new model. In it, he made clear that “there is no Plan B, we are fully committed to electric,” rejecting a possible new road map. Let us remind you that Opel announced long ago that starting next year it will present only electric vehicles.

The question is whether Opel will be able to sell a car that, despite its relatively low price (compared to its competitors), still has combustion options already below the aforementioned 25,000 euros (and without assistance and advertising campaigns). The most modest hybrid with 100 hp. will retail from €24,300 and it has been announced that with the help we will see it much closer to €20,000 than €25,000.

The problem, according to Hüttl, with keeping your electric car priced below €25,000 is still that production costs are too high if you want to produce it in the countries that lead the European Union economically. “Energy prices are twice as high as in France. “Labor costs are also high,” he noted in words collected Motopassion.

But above all, he made it clear: “If Opel wants to produce its cars in Germany, the customer will also You must be willing to pay for it.” The speech is in line with what Stellantis has been claiming lately.

Carlos Tavares has been pushing for a similar path for some time, in this case pressuring Italy to take the cars out of the country. In fact, although the Opel Frontera will be produced in Slovakia like other cars on the Stellantis STLA Small platform, the company’s CEO has pointed to India as an option under discussion when it comes to producing low-cost electric vehicles.

Photo | Opel

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