Vauxhall Ampera EV Charging Cable

It is a Type 1 car, and we can show you where the confusion starts

The Ampera uses the Type 1 connector, so you need a Type 2 to Type 1 lead: Type 2 at the post, Type 1 at the car. A tethered Type 2 charge point will not fit without an adapter.

Where does the Type 2 claim come from? One footnote in Vauxhall own brochure: "The car may also be charged at a public charge station with an IEC 62196-2 Type 2 inlet using a Mode 3 charge cable available as an accessory from your supplying retailer." The Type 2 inlet in that sentence belongs to the charge station. The tell is the rest of it: you need an accessory cable precisely because the car end is Type 1.

The same brochure says it plainly two pages later

On the accessories page: the Mode 3 charge cable "allows you to charge whilst out and about away from home, where public charging units have Type 2 Menekes sockets". That attributes Type 2 to the charging units, in Vauxhall own words, misspelling included.

One warning about the published paperwork, because it has misled a lot of people. Specification tables are assembled from templates, and a row that does not apply to a particular car is sometimes filled in anyway rather than left blank. When a figure in a table contradicts the arithmetic, the arithmetic wins.

A 16 amp ceiling, and a 32 amp charge point cannot beat it

The onboard charger is 3.3 kW and the car draws at most 16 amps. Vauxhall manual describes charging at 16 amps using special equipment such as a GM Wallbox, which "reduces the charging time to a minimum" at four hours. The brochure quotes the same four hours for both a 16 amp home charge station and a public post via the Mode 3 cable, which tells you the post makes no difference.

The manual does mention 32 amp circuits, saying they "provide flexibility for future vehicle charging needs". That is future proofing advice for the installation, not a claim about the car. Expect an overnight charge rather than an evening one. The onboard charger dates from a time when these units were small and expensive, and it caps what the car will accept well below what any modern home charge point can supply.

No rapid charging of any kind

Nothing on this car takes DC. There is no rapid socket to fall back on, so the Type 2 lead is not an accessory you might use, it is the only route electricity ever takes into the battery. Buy a used one without a cable in the boot and it is a petrol car until you do.

We checked rather than assumed: the words DC, rapid, CHAdeMO and Combo appear nowhere in the two hundred page owner manual in a charging sense, nor in the brochure. First generation Voltec had no DC hardware.

How long a full charge takes

The arithmetic is simple: kWh over kW, 13 per cent on top for losses, rounded to the nearest quarter hour. Miles per hour is worked at 3.5 miles per kWh, a figure that survives a cold morning. Vauxhall never published a usable figure; 10.3 kWh comes from Chevrolet Volt data for the same pack. The supplied Mode 2 cable was selectable between 6 and 10 amps and took six hours.

Vauxhall claimed up to 50 miles of electric range, with 83 kilometres quoted as the official NEDC figure. The car predates WLTP so no WLTP number exists.

Which length, and do not confuse it with the Ampera-e

The port is on the nearside front wing, and Vauxhall own brochure says so twice, describing the charge port on the passenger side front wing and as conveniently located on the passenger side. The Opel edition describes the same left hand front wing, so it is not mirrored.

A front nearside socket on a 4.5 metre car is a good arrangement; five metres is often enough nosing in. Pace it out from the socket to the flap with the car parked as it always is, then allow a little extra. Finally, the Ampera-e of 2017 to 2021 is a different car entirely, Chevrolet Bolt based with Type 2 and CCS, and was never sold as a Vauxhall. Much online data conflates the two.

How these cables are built

The lead is an IEC 62196-2 design, CE marked, IP55 sealed against a British winter and rated from -30C to +50C.

The three pin version is an IEC 62752 unit, CE marked and IP67 sealed, specified -30C to +60C. Two year manufacturer's warranty, free next working day UK delivery and 30 days to send it back.

Looking at another Vauxhall? Start with the Vauxhall Astra Electric EV Charging Cable, or browse every model in Vauxhall charging cables.

Vauxhall Ampera charging cable questions

Is the Vauxhall Ampera Type 1 or Type 2?

Type 1. The Type 2 reference in Vauxhall own brochure describes the public charge station socket, which is why a Mode 3 accessory cable was needed.

Will a 7 kW charge point help?

No. The car draws at most 16 amps, about 3.7 kW. Vauxhall quotes the same four hour charge time for a 16 amp home unit and a public post.

Can an Ampera rapid charge?

No. There is no DC hardware at all. The words do not appear anywhere in the owner manual or brochure.

Where is the charge port?

Nearside front wing, which Vauxhall describes as the passenger side front wing in its own brochure.