Opel Ampera to cost 42,900 euros

The Opel Ampera will cost from 42,900 euros throughout mainland Europe, as order books for the range-extending electric car open today.

The car will go on sale on the Continent towards the end of next year, with sales in the UK starting early 2012.

However, before you go reaching for your currency converter - it's just over 36,000 - we expect the Vauxhall-badged Ampera to cost less than the Opel version.

When we drove the car earlier this year, we expected prices to start at around 30,000, with that coming down to 25,000 with the help of the 5000 Government grant.