Engineering an advanced automobile that wows drivers might not spell immediate success. Price and features aside, it is also a matter of delivering said automobile at the right time.
Case in point: the General Motors (GM) EV1. Launched on December 5, 1996, the EV1 was a technologically advanced two-seater EV (electric vehicle) with a motor good for 137bhp and 150Nm.
Given the EV1’s 1350kg weight and wind-cheating 0.19 drag coefficient, it was able to accelerate from rest to 100km/h in 9 seconds flat. The vehicle’s top speed was a respectable 130km/h.
First-generation EV1s used lead-acid batteries, which afforded a range of 80km. GM equipped the second-generation model with nickel-metal hydride (NiMH) batteries to boost the range to 160-193km.
The EV1 was charged by magnetic induction. There was no metal-to-metal contact between the charging booth and the vehicle as power was transferred via a magnetic field.
With a high charging rate, the NiMH batteries could be filled to 80 percent capacity in as little as 30 minutes.
Drivers interested in the EV1 could only lease it, however, as the car was not for outright sale. Monthly leases ranged from US$349-US$640 (S$454-S$832) a month.
The General Motors EV1 proved too expensive to build in large numbers.
The EV1’s 1996 introduction seemed timely, as GM was bracing itself for stricter emission regulations.
To reduce smog, the state of California had, in 1990, enacted a Zero Emission Vehicle Mandate that required 10 per cent of all vehicles sold in 2003 to emit no pollutants.
Unlike today, however, demand for electric vehicles still had not reached a critical level. The popularity of SUVs was just beginning to take off then, and motorists were more concerned about interior space and four-wheel drive.
Coupled with relatively cheap petrol prices, many drivers saw no need for a purely electric vehicle with limited range and only room for two – issues the original Toyota Prius addressed when launched a year after the EV1’s debut.
By 2003, GM halted EV1 production due to the car’s high production cost. The marque also announced it would not renew EV1 leases, as it could no longer supply the parts necessary to maintain and repair the vehicles.
Two years later, GM crushed most of its reclaimed EV1s. The few that were spared had their powertrains disabled and were donated to museums.
The EV1 may be gone, but the technologies developed for it live on in GM’s fuel-cell and hybrid vehicles, including the promising Chevrolet Volt.
What is the difference between a hybrid, plug-in hybrid and electric car?
