Vauxhall working on a version hot hatch of your next astra electric, commented Top of the line chief designer Mark Adams. A fully electric Astra will join the line in 2023 And alongside a hotter and more powerful plug-in hybrid version of the Mk8 saloon, a performance electric version is also on the program.
Asked about the prospect of a fully electric vehicleAdams said: “Yes, we are working on things that are not far away, where we will embark in this direction”.
plot? U.S. too. We haven’t had a power version of the Astra in the UK since the Astra VXR disappeared from the Opel brochure. This pattern accelerated from 0 to 100 km/h in 5.9 seconds thanks to 284 hp: would you think we would call that “peak power output” back then? It was another era.
Adams wouldn’t focus on the details anyway, but he said the design philosophy “bold and pure” that Opel applies to its new vehicles could include a sportier interpretation.
“There’s a fine line between being seen as athletic and dynamic, which is a positive attribute, shall we say,” he explained. “But at the same time, you don’t necessarily want a tough, aggressive brand. He is find that perfect spot And as designers, we absolutely have to think about these softer factors. »
So maybe the new Honda Civic Type R , with its less aggressive style, is this really the start of something new? We’ll see.
Unlike its little brother, the stroke-e, (as well as his cousin, the Peugeot e-208), the electric Astra will be based on parent company Stellantis’ refined EMP2 V3 platform. It can be adapted to internal combustion, plug-in hybrid and electric propulsion systems, which means that the production can be done on a single line at the Russelsheim factory.
Typically, manufacturers seek to lighten the body in order to achieve maximum autonomy. Adams is worried about it: “Do you impose restrictions when trying to be more aerodynamically efficient? Yes of course”, admits. “But the challenge, as always, is how do you get what you visually want to work with the feature.”
Adams believes that efficiency is sought in all aspects of the car. “Not only do you have to have a certain interior space, a certain volume of luggage… but it also needs to be super efficient and streamlined. You have to get the balance of all these things. And that is not easy. It just takes a lot of effort and experience.
We still have a lot to do in terms of hot hatch electric, where only the Birth of Cupra occupies this segment at the moment. But now we’ve driven the latest Astra and the chassis is clearly good enough to handle something more performance-oriented. Will the electric Astra live up to the VXR?