Geneva/Rüsselsheim.  The revolutionary Opel Ampera today celebrated its world premiere at the 79th Geneva Motor Show. General Motors Europe president, Carl-Peter Forster, unveiled the extended-range electric vehicle and announced plans to put the car into production in late 2011.

The Ampera will also be offered with right-hand drive in the United Kingdom by Opel’s sister-brand, Vauxhall.

“The Opel Ampera further demonstrates GM’s leadership in the electrification of the automobile,” said Carl-Peter Forster. “Its ground-breaking Voltec electric propulsion system is the kind of game-changing technology the automotive industry needs to respond to energy and environmental challenges.”

The five-door, four-seat Ampera is influenced by Opel’s award-winning design language of sculptural artistry meets German precision, incorporating several styling cues from the innovative Flextreme and GTC Concept show cars

“There could not be a more fitting way to celebrate Opel’s 110 years of innovation in the car industry than by revealing the Ampera,” said Alain Visser, GME Vice President Opel.

The Ampera’s wheels are turned electrically at all times and speeds. For journeys up to 60 km (MVEG), it runs on electricity stored in the 16-kWh, lithium-ion battery, and emits zero CO2. When the battery’s energy is depleted, electricity from an engine-generator extends the Ampera’s range to more than 500 km.

The Ampera can be plugged into any household 230v outlet for charging. GM Europe is analyzing the requirements of a recharging infrastructure for plug-in electric cars with energy companies, including Iberdrola of Spain.

When the kind bods at Mitsubishi lent me one of their new electric cars for a weekend, at first I couldn’t help but worry “how do I charge it?” and “how far can I go with it?”. The answers turned out to be so straight forward I was sure they were pulling my leg – you charge it by plugging it into the mains and a full charge will take you quite a distance – roughly 80 miles. Perfect for staging a fun-filled, green weekend. So, we got some friends over and took a day trip in our new “space car”, as our intrigued pals called it. Getting four adults in this compact (electric) motor was no problem at all. It’s something of a tardis, with plenty of leg room all round and a boot that holds several bags of shopping or one fat dog very nicely.

Touch the fob to the little pad where you would normally insert a key and the car chimes to let you know its ready, though it took a moment to realise it was ready to go – it makes the same sound when it’s on as it does off – none at all. Having never driven an automatic in my life I had the typical odd sensation of trying to press my left foot on a pedal that wasn’t there but within a minute I was used to it and surprised by how much punch the little thing could give you if you put your foot down.

Quiet, clean, rechargeable electric moped scooter is economical transportation that requires no license, registration or insurance. Legal in all 50 U.S. states. Travels up to 35 miles on one charge at speeds up to 20 mph powered by a 500-watt electric motor.

The i-MiEV is a joy to drive. Smooth and quiet and comfortable and I swear you get more looks from passers by than you would if you were in a Porsche.

My friends and I headed into the country to make the most of the sunshine. Little Mievy (getting quite fond of it now) ate the hills and glided round the bends of the Cotswolds. As we drove through some little towns, busy with their Saturday shoppers I switched to ‘eco’ mode (which drops the power to preserve the battery) and I almost gave in to the urge to wave at the people watching as I undertook the single easiest bit of parking in my life.

After a stunning walk along some ancient ruins we headed back into town for the local farmer’s market and surrounded by sustainably grown vegetables and organically produced cheese, pondered the state of green technology and hoped that more developments like this are coming because we really do need them.

On the way home we stopped into a petrol station for snacks and I couldn’t help take a picture of the car next to the pumps and smile at this little fossil-free wonder parked in front of something it might one day make obsolete.

One of the big issues facing hydrogen is just where we’re supposed to fill the cars that might run on the stuff. A Connecticut company is answering that question on the East Coast with plans for a “hydrogen highway” that will extend from Portland, Maine, to southern Florida.

California historically has been a hotbed of hydrogen research and development, but SunHydro wants to put the East Coast on the H2 map with 11 solar refueling stations. The self-contained stations use electrolysis technology from Proton Energy that takes electricity generated from solar power and splits water into hydrogen and oxygen. The process results in considerably fewer emissions than the traditional methods of shipping hydrogen to fueling stations by truck or reforming it from natural gas.

“Our goal is to make it possible for hydrogen car to drive from Maine to Miami strictly on sun and water,” company president Michael Grey said.

For all the attention on electric cars these days, several automakers continue developing hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. Honda is especially enamored with the technology. General Motors put the Chevrolet Equinox fuel cell vehicle in a few dozen driveways. Nissan is leasing a XTrail FCV truck to Coca-Cola. And Mercedes Benz will offer the F-Cell to “selected customers” in Europe and the United States this spring. Mazda and Volkswagen are among the technology’s proponents as well.

So, beyond giving the few hydrogen cars on the road a place to fuel up, the stations could help solve the the “chicken and egg” problem where the lack of fueling infrastructure begot a lack of cars and vice-versa.

“Having talked to several of the auto manufacturers, the indication that we’ve received is that there has to be a network of stations on the east coast for them to bring the cars here,” Grey said. “They want to bring the cars here, but there’s nowhere to fuel them.”

That quandary is familiar to Paul Williamson of the University of Montana College of Technology. “There’s no sense having hydrogen cars if there’s no place to refuel them,” Williamson said. “Most of the development is happening in California. Why? Because they have refueling stations.”

Williamson, whose family owned a service station when he was younger, likens the adoption of hydrogen technology to the early days of diesel. “We put in a pump behind our service station to begin with, and we had some cars and trucks here and there,” he said.

CODA Automotive, a manufacturer and distributor of all-electric cars and transportation battery systems, will debut its prototype all-electric CODA sedan to the public at the AltCar Expo, October 2-3, in Santa Monica. Hosted in the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, the conference is open and free of charge to the public, and will showcase the latest and most innovative clean energy and alternative transportation technology.

CODA’s booth will directly reference the climate change emergency and will implore the public to take an active role in ending dependence on oil.  CODA Automotive will be signing people up to learn more about the car, when they can purchase the CODA, and will be giving out “End Dependence Day” t-shirts.  The CODA will be at the media preview on Thursday, October 1 from 10am to 12pm.

Hitting the streets of California in the fall of 2010, the CODA is powered by a 34 kWh lithium iron phosphate battery pack and travels 90 (highway use) to 120 (city use) miles per charge. The car will be available for sub-$30,000 after including a $7,500 Federal tax credit and additional incentives, and the company will begin taking reservations soon.

For more information, please visit CODA online, or follow CODA on Twitter.  Details about the AltCar Expo can be found on their website.

About CODA Automotive: Headquartered in Santa Monica, Calif., CODA is working to reduce dependence on foreign oil and leading the way to a cleaner future by building 100% electric cars and battery transportation systems.  CODA works in a smart, inter-dependent way with highly proficient companies from around the world to quickly and efficiently bring electric drive technology to market, jump start the electric car movement and turn the car industry into a cause industry.  Through its exclusive transportation battery joint venture with Lishen Power Battery, CODA is also a leading designer and large-scale manufacturer of power battery systems.  The American invented, globally built CODA electric car will be available to consumers in 2010.