The first pre-production 2012 Opel Ampera produced in Michigan

April 27, 2010 Omar Rana 2011, 2012, Chevrolet Volt, electric-cars, electric-vehicles, Opel Ampera, plug-in hybrids

The Opel Ampera team with the first pre-production Opel Ampera

The first pre-production 2012 Opel Ampera, the Chevy Volt’s European sibling, rolled off the assembly line at GM”s Pre-Production Operations assembly line in Warren, Michigan on April 23.

“We”re right on target for producing the Ampera for European markets later next year,” said Andrew Farah, Vehicle Chief Engineer for the Ampera “There”s still work to be done, but being able to drive an Opel Ampera off our pre-production line is a great accomplishment for the teams here and in Europe.”

GM said that assembly workers will continue to build more pre-production Amperas in the coming months and that the pre-production vehicles will not be sold at dealerships, but used instead for testing and validating the production intent design as well as developing the final vehicle software and controls. Engineers in Europe and the United States also use them to tune the vehicle”s overall driving experience.

Most of them will end up being used in safety and structural integrity testing.