| First Drive | Luton, England | 2011 Vauxhall Ampera |

We've had petrol; we've had diesel; we're even used to the idea of a hybrid. We're only just getting used to electric cars and there's another category to get our heads around, the E-REV - or Extended Range Electric Vehicle. The concept seems simple enough. You have a battery that can be charged via a domestic plug in three hours for about 37 miles of emissions-free electric motoring; when this runs out, you don't just stop, as there's a conventional engine to take over generate electricity to power the electric motor, providing an extra 300 miles or so of range. Could the Vauxhall Ampera be the perfect interim answer to the drawbacks of electric cars?

In the Metal

The Ampera is a handsome thing, managing to look quite aggressive despite its supposed eco-friendliness. There are similarities between the Vauxhall's rear styling and that of the Honda Insight and Toyota Prius: presumably it's the most aerodynamic solution, though it does limit rear headroom.

Our test car was a prototype so might not reflect the final production car, but we expect most of the styling cues to be carried over. The interior, while quite rough, ready and functional in our test mule, did give an indication of what is to come, with a futuristic-looking dashboard, gearlever and centre console. The Ampera is a four-seater, the centre seat in the rear lost to the packaging of the battery. With two tall drivers up front, rear leg room is fine for rear seat passengers.

There is a large digital display dominating the centre console showing a multitude of information relating to energy levels, air conditioning and the like. There are still quite a lot of small buttons on the dashboard though, which might not make it to the production car, as they are pretty fiddly and somewhat hard to see. In front of the driver, where you would find dials in a regular car, is a large display that shows speed and energy levels - you can also monitor when energy is being used through acceleration or when you are restoring it through brake energy regeneration.

What you get for your Money

We know very little about the pricing of the Ampera as yet, because it is still quite far away comparatively speaking. It's likely to priced on a par with the Nissan LEAF and Renault Fluence EV, which means about £25,000, though that could increase is the UK Government withdraws the electric car grant. It should be pretty generously equipped so as to make the relatively high purchase price a little less hard to swallow. Expect things like 17-inch alloy wheels, satellite navigation, cruise control and climate control all thrown in as part of the package. Vauxhall appears to be ruling out any sort of lease deal for the battery though, saying that this isn't the intended business model. Instead the car will be bought outright and Vauxhall expects the battery to be good for around 10 years of use.

Driving it

The car we drove was prepared so as the battery charge was almost depleted, so we got to experience electric-only power and the extended range functionality. Much like most of the new breed of EVs, running on battery power alone the car is very silent, powerful and altogether relatively normal. There is a faint whine from the drivetrain, and the test car was also, rather oddly, fitted with snow tyres that caused a fair amount of road noise. However, the Ampera was stable and content at up to 90mph.

When the battery depletes, a gauge on the dash indicates that it is switching over to extended range mode and the petrol engine can be heard kicking in - though it isn't as loud as a standard car's.

It feels very like an Insignia in terms of ride and handling, no doubt tuned for European tastes, and there is decent steering feel. We can expect this to be even more refined when the full production model arrives - possibly with Vauxhall's adaptive damping system. On our brief drive it felt quite potent, like a turbocharged petrol engine, just quieter, with lots of torque. Vauxhall quotes a 0-62mph time of nine seconds, which is likely to be faster than the Nissan LEAF - and the top speed is higher too, at 100mph.

Summary

This was quite a brief drive in a car that is still a while away from being production ready, but first impressions are good. The Vauxhall Ampera is likely to be an ideal solution for those who want to dip their toe into electric vehicle technology but don't want the stress of running out of charge and the restraints of being limited to a short distance. The only unknown is resale value.