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High-roof station wagons like the Opel Combo are no feast for the eyes, but they offer a lot of everyday use
Photo: Axel Wierdemann / Opel
The first impression:
this car looks friendly.
The front end of the combo lacks any aggression that is common on so many SUVs.
The sliding doors, the huge tailgate and the separately opening window make the van appear inviting.
As a green imposing model, it is not suitable: The electric version can only be recognized by the type and number plate.
This is what the manufacturer says:
The Opel executives admit that a high-roof station wagon scores with functionality, not so much with its shape. The electric combo-e is a choice of common sense. In some terraced houses, an SUV like the Opel Mokka may look more attractive. »If you need a lot of space and value a good price-performance ratio, as so many families have to do, the Combo is the first choice. Especially if it is also supposed to be an emission-free car, ”says Opel spokesman Axel Seegers.
In fact, there are still no electric alternatives in this segment, apart from the sister models Citroën Berlingo and Peugeot Rifter.
At VW there is still no talk of an electric caddy.
The new Renault Kangoo will not come as an e-model until 2022, and cooperation partner Mercedes will hardly start earlier with the e-Citan and EQT.
The Combo-e costs around 4,000 euros more than the Mocha-e, but there is more than twice as much trunk space.
We noticed that:
Large plastic surfaces, more conventional displays - the Combo is at heart a commercial vehicle, also as a family-friendly »Life« variant.
There is no futuristic operating system in it, no giant screens.
A halfway extravagant gimmick is the small rocker with which the direction of travel is selected, it replaces the gear knob.
If you are looking for a car for everyday use, the combo may be right. Especially when he or she is often out and about with kids. The engineers make clever use of the space available in the delivery van: There is plenty of knee room and even more headroom and a huge trunk that the battery does not deplete. There are also plenty of shelves. While small items in the SUV can only be stored in the doors, center console or pockets on the backrests, the Combo has a clever compartment above the driver's seats and one lengthways between the roof windows. This potentially creates order - but at least children have to stretch to get close while driving.
The drive is sensibly designed. The electric motor has an output of 100 kW or 136 hp, and the top speed is limited to 135 km / h. From 0 to 100 it takes an excruciatingly long 11.7 seconds. But, like all Stromers, the combo moves particularly quickly on the first few meters. At traffic lights or when changing lanes in the city, he leaves many vans with combustion engines behind. The silence of the electric drive is particularly beneficial in the large resonance space. Only the matter of recuperation (energy recovery when decelerating) does not work comfortably: the Combo neither sails for kilometers in the low level, nor can it be driven with one foot when the generator is powerful. Other electric models can do that better.
The desire to drive fast vanishes in the combo with a glance at the range display. With the 50 kWh battery in the floor of the car, the station wagon can only travel a meager 280 kilometers on the test bench, and in practice it is even less, especially on cold days. This shows a fundamental problem of e-mobility: models that are not particularly streamlined consume so much electricity at speeds of 100 km / h and more that the range is significantly reduced. In Eco mode, the combo's range of action can be increased a little, power is reduced to 82 hp, and the air conditioning is deactivated. After all, the rather small battery is 80 percent full again in 30 minutes, plugged into a 100 kW socket.
You have to know that:
The Opel Combo-e will go on sale at the turn of the year at prices starting at 38,100 euros.
With similar equipment, the Stromer is 10,000 euros above a similarly powerful diesel model and not far below a Tesla Model 3 (from 41,990 euros).
It is available as a Combo Life with the standard length of 4.40 meters.
For an extra 1400 euros, an XL with around 35 centimeters more length drives up.
In addition, Opel sells the Combo-e in the Cargo variant from 35,343 euros upwards, with a metal box at the rear instead of a combi body.
The same drive is found in all variants.
We won't forget that:
the smart roof box over the trunk.
It can be filled from the front and the back.
The combo does not deserve the title of charge master for battery capacity - here it does.
