There won’t be a battery-powered version of GM Europe’s Adam premium mini after all, as Opel and its British counterpart Vauxhall have scrapped the program citing high costs, despite the fact that development had moved on to a working prototype.
The Adam EV would have shared its electric-powertrain with the upcoming Chevrolet Spark EV due to enter production next year, according to a report from Autonews Europe.
“It was a business decision,” Opel’s chief engineer for the Adam, Dieter Metz, told the publication. “We could not charge the customer the price needed to make it work on the cost side.”
The German firm’s head of sales and marketing, Alfred Rieck, agreed with his colleague adding that high prices are impacting sales of electric cars.
“If you look at the technology that’s available on the market today, it’s very expensive,” said Rieck. “You end up with a certain price of the car and consumers are not interested in it.”
For now, the Adam will reach dealerships in mainland Europe (as an Opel) and Britain (Vauxhall) in January 2013 with a choice of three four-cylinder petrol engines delivering up to 98bhp (100PS).
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