Vauxhall Ampera hatchback (2012-2014) - Reliability & safety

The Vauxhall Ampera hasn’t sold enough to make it into any of our Driver Power customer satisfaction surveys since its launch, so its reliability remains uncertain. But electric motors have much fewer moving parts to go wrong than conventional engines and a long battery warranty gives peace of mind, too. 

Vauxhall Ampera reliability

The Ampera isn’t popular enough to be featured on any of our Driver Power customer satisfaction surveys, but the Vauxhall brand in general hasn’t performed particularly well in recent years.

Over the last three years, Vauxhall has dropped from 26th in 2013 to 29th in 2014 and 30th in the Driver Power 2015 survey, showing that owners are becoming increasingly disappointed with the brand’s service and reliability. That’s disappointing considering how hard Vauxhall has been working to improve the reliability of its cars.

Luckily, because there are fewer moving parts in an electric car, the Ampera should prove more reliable than conventional cars. There have been some problems reported with the Ampera, however, including faulty chargers and sticking charging flaps, plus there are worries that the lithium-ion battery pack won't last as long as the car and will be extremely expensive to replace.

Vauxhall is aware of these issues, so the Ampera’s battery gets an eight-year/100,000-mile warranty and the company offers free collection and delivery if your car needs servicing or repairs, plus a courtesy replacement car, too.

Vauxhall Ampera safety

The Ampera is a very safe car, having secured the maximum five-star rating in the Euro NCAP crash tests. It has a wide range of standard safety equipment, including electronic stability control, eight airbags and seatbelt reminder buzzers.