Automotive News Europe - April 2020 - 21

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The Opel Grandland X plug-in hybrid offers 300 hp and can drive up to 59 km in electric mode.

Grandland X takes over
title of most powerful Opel
O

pel's first plug-in hybrid SUV is not
only one of the greenest models in the
German automaker's range, the Grandland X is also its most powerful, delivering a combined 300 hp. The four-wheel
drive version of SUV gets 200 hp from its
1.6-liter, four-cylinder gasoline engine and
the rest from the electric motors installed
on each axle, putting the Grandland X
far ahead of the 230 hp produced by the
2.0-liter turbocharged gasoline engine in
the GSi version of the Opel Insignia sedan.
The low-emissions Grandland X is part of
Opel's plan to reduce its fleet CO2 emissions
by offering battery-powered or plug-in hybrid
variants of every new model by 2024. The
family already includes the recently launched
Corsa-e full-electric small car.
The Grandland X is built at Opel's plant
in Eisenach, Germany, using parent PSA

Group's EMP2 platform for compact and
midsize vehicles. The SUV is nearly identical mechanically to the Peugeot 3008,
DS 7 Crossback and Citroen C5 Aircross
plug-in hybrids, all of which are also new
to the market in 2020.
The Grandland X plug-in hybrid also has
a front-wheel drive version with a maximum combined power of 224 hp. Both
the fwd and 4wd variants have an electric
motor on the front axle. The rear wheels
on the 4wd versions are also driven by an
e-motor, an arrangement that eliminates
the need for a driveshaft between the
front and the rear.
This electric 4wd system layout was first
launched in 2011 by PSA on HYbrid4 versions of models from Peugeot and DS.
Adding 4wd to the Grandland X plug-in
hybrid increases the price by about 5,500

Fast Facts
❚ Drive modes: The SUV offers four

driving modes: electric, hybrid, allwheel-drive and sport.
❚ Recharge times: It takes 1 hour and
45 minutes to replenish the SUV's battery using a 7.4-kW, 32-amp singlephase wallbox. Recharge time rises to
about seven hours using a standard
3.7-kW, 8-amp home outlet.
❚ Special services: Access to a range
of solutions that cater to customers with

APRIL 2020

EVs is supplied by Opel parent PSA's
Free2Move mobility brand via the myOpel app. The offer includes a pass valid
at more than 125,000 charging points in
Europe and a trip planner that suggests
the best routes to a nearby charger.

The Basics
❚ Launch date: March
❚ Base price: 44,190 euros (Germany)
❚ Where built: Eisenach, Germany
❚ Lowest CO2 emissions: 29g/km

euros in Germany. Although the 4wd
variant weights 65 kg more than its fwd
sibling (1,875 kg vs. 1,810 kg), its CO2
emissions of 29 to 32 grams per kilometer are expected to be marginally lower
than the fwd version, which was still being calibrated at press time.
"The advantage of the 4wd version is that
the rear motor also contributes toward
recuperating energy [for the battery],"
said Thomas Overhaus, Opel's program
director for low-emissions vehicles.
The Grandland X's 13.2-kilowatt-hour
lithium-ion battery, which is housed below the rear seats, provides up to 59
km of electric drive, according to WLTP.
"Our research shows that 80 percent of
our customers have a weekday round trip
drive of about 50 km, all of which could
be done in full-electric mode with the
Grandland X plug-in hybrid," said Julian
Kloka, Opel's manager of sales development in its low-emissions vehicles unit.
-- Luca Ciferri

www.autonewseurope.com

http://www.autonewseurope.com

Automotive News Europe - April 2020

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