The General Motors EV1 was a pioneering electric vehicle produced in the 1990s. It was the first modern electric car designed for mass-market consumers, with impressive performance and environmental benefits. The EV1 could manage 70-90 miles on the energy equivalent of half a gallon of gas, and nearly twice that with a more expensive NiMH battery pack[1]. The engineers who created the EV1 were responsible for many technologies used in today’s electric and hybrid-vehicles.
Among the most significant were: power electronics design, packaging, and cooling directly related to today’s EVs; electrohydraulic power steering (EHPS), which soon led to electric power steering; heat pump HVAC (the “grandfather” of today’s systems); low-rolling-resistance tires; inductive charging (now widely used for phones, electric toothbrushes, and other things); an electric-defrost windshield (virtually invisible embedded wiring to defog the glass); keyless ignition (the EV1 used a console keypad); electric brakes and parking brake; by-wire acceleration, braking, and gear selection; cabin temperature preconditioning; tire-pressure sensing; regenerative braking (including variable coast regen—which was on our early development cars but just two set levels selected by a shift lever button on production EV1 cars, due to legal issues with brake-light activation), and regen/friction brake blending; IGBT (replacing MOSFET) power inverter technology, and low-friction bearings, seals, and lubricants.[6]
Despite the EV1’s technological achievements, GM ultimately decided to cancel the program in 2003, citing high production costs and a small market[1][2][3]. This decision sparked outrage among environmental advocates and electric vehicle enthusiasts, who protested GM’s move to crush the remaining EV1 models[1].
The fate of the EV1 highlights the challenges and complexities involved in transitioning to more sustainable transportation solutions. While the EV1 was a remarkable feat of engineering, it was ahead of its time and struggled to gain widespread consumer adoption[3][4].
GM’s handling of the EV1’s discontinuation was widely criticized, as the company refused to sell the vehicles to lessees who wanted to keep them, instead opting to crush most of the remaining models[1][5]. This public relations disaster overshadowed the significant technological advancements and lessons learned from the EV1 program, which later contributed to GM’s development of hybrid and all-electric vehicles like the Chevrolet Volt and Bolt[3].
The EV1’s legacy serves as a poignant reminder of the ongoing struggle to promote eco-friendly transportation solutions in the face of corporate interests and consumer preferences. While the EV1 ultimately failed to achieve commercial success, it paved the way for the modern electric vehicle market and the continued push for sustainable mobility[1][3].
The descruction of the EV1s is one of the strangest things in the history of cars. This video about the EV1 is still on YouTube after 19 years (since 2005,) so I assume it is fine to link to it here. It still may be taken down one day.
Citations:
[1] https://americanhistory.si.edu/explore/exhibitions/ev1-electric-car
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Motors_EV1
[3] https://www.hagerty.com/media/automotive-history/gm-ev1-true-inside-story/
[4] https://www.caranddriver.com/features/g43480930/history-of-electric-cars/
[5] https://www.sjsu.edu/faculty/watkins/electriccar.htm
[6] https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a36887553/gm-ev1-electric-car-technology/
1 comment
The resurrection of the ev1 is here. Who Killed the Electric Car? is a film which premiered at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival and will be at the San Francisco, Seattle and Tribeca Film festivals before opening in theaters accross the US in June. If interested go to http://www.whokilledtheelectriccar.com and learn more.