Vauxhall GT X Experimental Meet the future
Exclusive drive of the GT X Experimental EV shows the boldness of Vauxhall’s vision
This car feels very small but the view is great. The cabin is light and airy like nothing in production
Vauxhall is rolling ever faster towards a future of exciting and very different products, the standard bearer of which is its brand-new GT X Experimental electric concept, in which Autocar has had an exclusive first test drive.
This is no ordinary concept. It clearly shows the fresh face of future Vauxhall and Opel models, created in a new era of quick-acting creativity, kick-started just over a year ago by PSA’S acquisition of the two venerable former General Motors marques.
The GT X features a plethora of new design features that have already been tested in secret on cars of all types and sizes — not just the GT Coupé and GT X Experimental we’ve seen already — to ensure that they can be the basis for the product line-up of a full-line manufacturer.
Small wonder, as our latest meeting with the GT X in a giant aircraft hangar showed, that this multi-millionpound concept is treated by its reverent handlers as if it were made of gossamer and gold. And that it is often accompanied on its travels by the company’s British-born design director, Mark Adams, who explains its significance better than anyone.
“Don’t think of the GT X as a production car,” says Adams. “It’s more important than that. We call it a brand manifesto, a representative of our design vision for the company’s whole portfolio.”
Production proposal or not, the company’s Russelsheimbased designers chose one of today’s most relevant model types for the GT X Experimental, a B-segment SUV, because such models are selling out of their skins all around the world, with no sign of a let-up. This one is just over four metres long, the same size as the current Vauxhall Corsa. It is designed to use a new, all-electric skateboard chassis and features a 50kwh battery that in production would give it performance and range similar to the latest Nissan Leaf.
As I approach the car to drive it, the ideal nature of the skateboard becomes obvious. Although it’s an SUV, clearly higher than a saloon, it looks petite and shapely because its front-drive mechanicals are more compact and easier to package than those of a pistonengined car.
The big wheels (featuring big-diameter, yellow-edged hubcaps that make the tyres look like low-profile affairs, even though they’re not) and the generous ground clearance give the car a hint of toughness that is immediately softened by the shapely but structured surfaces above: the sculpted bonnet, the neat
and unique Vizor grille-lights treatment and the muscular haunches. Give Adams a stray minute and he’ll lecture you on the importance of perfect proportions to a car. This GT X has them.
When the clap-hands doors sigh electrically open (revealing that there’s no centre pillar), it’s a bit of a surprise to discover so much room for entry and egress. The sills are low and there’s generous room for legs to swing inwards. The driver’s front bucket seat (already recovered once because so many Opel-vauxhall staff bums have been using this concept for inspiration) is comfortable and the view takes you back to days when cabins lacked intrusive pillars and clutter, another of Adams’ hobby horses.
The Pure Panel, a giant TFT screen, comes into its own when the computers start to hum and giant graphics appear. There’s a huge digital speed readout (because avoiding speeding is ever more important today). There is also a huge map, far easier to read than any I’ve seen before, with a clever portrayal of your journey related to a range meter. The clarity is exceptional and everything is touch or voice operated.
The steering wheel boss also has a small TFT screen, as does the centre-mounted rocker switch for selecting Drive.
Driving is a delicious anti-climax. Foot on brake, I rock the centre switch into Drive. With a gentle push on the accelerator, we roll off the mark in near silence, the promise of electric car precision and refinement instantly obvious. The car gathers way easily. Too easily, actually, for the confines of a hangar. I back off but there’s not much engine braking. Regenerative braking would (and will) fix that.
The steering is pretty wooden and lacks self-centring, but that hardly matters. We know Vauxhall can make cars steer well. What’s fascinating is the amazing freedom afforded by a windscreen that becomes a roof. Also by the thin pillars and the satisfying view of a shapely bonnet.
The car feels very small yet the view is great. The cabin is light and airy like nothing in production. The decor is elegantly simple, and the Pure Panel has a clarity I’d like in the Mercedes S-class I’m about to drive home. Adams reckons cars of the future will be better than ever – because customers won’t accept less, and even if they did, designers wouldn’t allow it. So the future’s bright, and the GT X is proof.