Get on instead of getting in: The Opel Zafira-e Life is a bus. The production of the van of the same name (test) was discontinued. Buyers now want SUVs like the Opel Grandland X (test) or the Opel Mokka. Or they like those box vans that are often called Bulli even without the VW logo: with plenty of space, upright body side walls and the same seating position.

The Opel Zafira-e Life is also electric. The diesel engine, which is naturally built into most vehicles of this type, is replaced in the Zafira-e by a 100 kW (continuous output: 57 kW) powerful electric motor replaced. It draws its power from a battery that 50 kWh or, as in the case of the test car, for a surcharge of 5849 Euro 75 kWh is growing. Gross list price of the top version Elegance including leather seats, panoramic roof and electric sliding doors: 69. 961 Euro or 061. 061 Euro, if you get the so-called innovation bonus of 7900 Euro deducts.

Opel Zafira-e Life in the test (7 pictures) Coastal cruiser: Four years after its introduction, the joint van from PSA and Toyota will be electric. As the Opel Zafira-e Life Elegance, it is a personable and comfortable glider. The gross list price with 75 – kWh battery in top equipment: 69. 961 Euro. The so-called innovation premium of 5849 euros can be deducted from this.

(Image: Christoph M. Schwarzer) After pressing the start button, there is silence. One pull on the drive lever in the center console to D, and off you go: a stark contrast to the diesel engines. No rumbling underfoot, no vibrations. Just roll off, accompanied by the now legally prescribed and in the Opel subtle artificial noise that starts from 30 km / h switches off. As usual with electric cars, the gearbox has only one reduction. The fact that Volkswagen is currently offering a VW e-T6 (test) with the rudiments of a dual clutch transmission can be dismissed as a temporary measure. In the Opel the following applies: power up, brake, done. Just like an electric car should be.

Classic bus feeling – except in curves The Opel Zafira-e Life is a cruiser. When accelerating (13, 3 seconds) it is somewhere on the level of the medium diesel versions in this car, and the top speed is 130 km / h limited. That creates a classic bus feeling. It’s going smoothly, but lawn? No thanks. There is one glaring difference: cornering is a different world because the focus is lower. No lurching, no swaying.

Whoever moves the Zafira-e calmly will be happy with him. Set the cruise control (without distance control) to 120 km / h, lean back and enjoy. Then the power consumption is kept within the range for a 1, 90 meter high, without mirror 2, 01 meters wide and according to the vehicle registration document 2381 kg (payload: 679 kg) heavy electric car can be expected: At the stated speed, the average is around 30 kWh / 100 km, from which 130 km range on the autobahn result.

The aerodynamics suffer from the frontal area, and because there are few inclines in northern Germany, but strong winds , showed a large variance at 100 km / h: With a tailwind it was 28 kWh / 100 km and with headwind 36 kWh. The physics are merciless.

7900 Good quick-charging capability Nevertheless, traveling works because the direct current charging power (DC) with up to 100 kW high and the compulsory break is therefore relatively short. The course over time in the form of the charging curve is also impressive: For example, when the battery level (SOC for State of Charge) was 52 Percent still 81 kW readable on the column, and also with 75 Percentage was still over 50 kW. Two samples are representative: During a break on the highway within a quarter of an hour , 1 kWh additional in the battery. And at another DC column in front of the supermarket it was in half an hour 36, 6 kWh. The charging power at alternating current charging points (AC) is eleven kW as standard, and a drop in charging power was at a mild eight to 13 Degree outside temperature cannot be determined.