Blast From the Past: A look back at the EV1
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- čas přidán 25. 08. 2024
- A decade ago GM's electric car, the EV1, was a flop in the marketplace. But with gas over four dollars a gallon it would probably attract a lot more attention today.
Back when it was launched, the EV1 was revolutionary. It had a host of innovative features like regenerative braking and light-weight construction. But none of that could stop GM from pulling the plug on the program just a few years ago.
Take a look at this GM corporate video from the Autoline archives which highlights many of the EV1's features and shows how relevant the car is today.
*buy an abandoned storage locker
*find EV1 inside
*has mint conditon CDs of all my favorite 90s bands.
*has sega game gear pluged into AC-adapter.
* both chargers, and a gasoline generator also in storage locker.
*Don't know combo to get into EV1
*dreams of awesome 90s notalgia mobile crushed.
* see piece of paper in window
*try combo on paper
*90s mobile ready to rock!
*swap out original lead acid baterries for modern Lithium
*lighter, faster, better range.
*remove regulator.
*goes over 100MPh
I want to thank you and everyone else on CZcams for posting file footage of the EV1/Impact program by GM. Its a piece of automotive history that must not be forgotten
Wow! Neat video! I was familiar with the car but hadn't been able to see some of the features close up like this. Turns out it isn't all that different from modern electric cars, even though the interior looks rather dated.
And it would be an even better car if converted to use lithium ion batteries instead of the heavy and short-lived lead acid batteries.
@@JustWasted3HoursHere Yeah back then that was simply impossible.
@@silvy7394 First editions used lead acid batteries but then later switched to NiMH. Lithium batteries existed at that time but would have been extremely cost prohibitive to use as the power source (or it would have had an extremely tiny battery pack with very small range of probably less than 50 miles). I'm sure people nowadays would love to covert these to lithium, but only a handful even exist anymore. The rest were crushed.
@@JustWasted3HoursHere Thanks for the update no one asked for.
@@silvy7394 Just correcting your error, that's all. 😉
Love it. America's standard unit of measurement for cargo capacity is in golf bags.
I feel that’s a joke because electric cars were known for being like golf karts
@@goldenretriever6440 it’s not. Being a weirdo I have seen several car promo videos measuring the trunk capacity in golf bags
That last line says it all.
"The EV1 was not designed to compete with the combustion engine cars of today, but to complement them."
GM managed to deliver this innovative product with lead acid batteries. Imagine the possibilities if they had continued development. Unfortunately, this product was likely set to fail from the beginning.
Those batteries degraded LIKE HELL. It was very expensive to make and not viable at the time. That's why they came up with the VOLT 5-6 years after
@@bmw803newer model had nimh
DESCRIPTION FAIL!! the EV! was never a flop, as a matter of fact, every one that leased it wanted to buy it outright from GM, but Gm refused to sell the cars because they never had any breakdowns, and never had any need for maintenance which GM relies on for profit. When the lease ran out GM demanded them back and crushed all of them, minus a couple that are not allowed to be registered for road use.
How do you know why GM shut the program now?
Kent Purdy WHAT?
William Dean You make bold claims
"Gm refused to sell the cars because they never had any breakdowns, and never had any need for maintenance which GM relies on for profit."
Kent Purdy You think this is my claim? LOL.. RESEARCH... it's really easy.
William Dean Research what? Conspiracy theories? In parts of his book, "Charging into the Future," Larry Edsall covers some internal discussions within GM as Lutz pushes them to build another electric car.
The EV1 cost GM $100k each to build and no one would buy them. They had to come up with a leasing program where they lost money on every car. No wonder people loved them, drivers were getting access to a very expensive car for far below cost. The program ended because there was no profit in site (public companies are required to make money).
During its early proposal phase, the Volt started out as a pure EV but was changed to a series hybrid due to lack of battery technology (there was no way that anyone would buy an $100k EV Chevy).
Next month, Chevy is releasing a pure EV with 238 mile range. How many other vendors are doing that?
I want one of them!! But not the 1st Gen with Lead Acid, but the 2nd with fine NiMH-cells, that no one is allowed to built nowadays because of Chevron-Texacon holding the patents for great, large sized NiMH-cells.
You can't buy an ev-1, but in 2018 you can buy a used Spark EV for 7-8 grand. The spirtual successor to the EV1, but with more range, power, and safety features. They are great fun to scoot around in. and likely the cheapest per mile cost of any car ever produced.
@@spazzman90 Yep! Just checked carguru.com and they had several for around that price. The 2016 has a range of around 80 miles, which is perfect for many people who just want a car that can take them to and from work and occasionally the grocery store or mall or whatever.
I saw a "convenience charger" on ebay the other day, I sorta laughed thinking what was that thing for and then it dawned on me its a EV1 charger! later after it sold... mad I missed buying it.
Truly amazing how far ahead of it's time this car was. As they listed off all the technologies the EV1 had, I was thinking in the back of my mind how many hybrids or EVs have these same technologies today. The Nissan Leaf comes to mind right away - even down to it's pedestrian alert system. Too bad GM killed it before realizing it's mistake and trying again with the Volt.
Okay, I remember this car back in the early '90's, can someone remind me why it took over 20 years for this (electric car) idea to catch on? I mean all those features mentioned in the video are pretty much standard on almost all current electric cars on the market today, and they (electric cars) just started to infiltrate the market. And to top it all off, GM scrapped the whole EV1 program a few years later, and almost none of those cars were available to own, only lease... Interesting, isn't it?
They still wouldn't be here today if it wasn't for CAFE and Elon Musk.
I would have loved to have one of these :(
It was like the greatest car marketed by General Motors
@rezn66 i actually cried too , especially when they showed the pictures of the crushed cars to people.
If I could pick any place and time to go back to, it would have to be the US in the '90s. So many advancements and so many new ideas. It is a shame that we threw it all away for lesser priorities.
"Corrosion resistant non-metal exterior panels"
You mean plastic exterior panels?
The funny thing about GM killing the EV1 is that Toyota stole a large portion of the frustrated ex-EV1 drivers with their hugely successful Prius. It took GM about 10 years to develop a car that can compete with the Prius, the Volt.
and the volt is history as well due to sluggish sales
I was going to buy a volt but it sucked I bought a SUV instead
HYBRID SUV that barely gets 24mpg
They should bring this car back and sell it to all the people that leased it back in the day
@kittycatback Im sure a branch of engineers at gm was dismayed at the EV1's diminish, but I suspect gm had threatening influence from other companies to remove the EV1
"The car of the future...today." No shit!!!! A lot of the design of this car was put into the Volt. The way the batteries are configured (in the t shape). Even the automatic honk at under 25 mph!!! Why did it take GM so long to reintroduce this "new" tech?
I was trying to get past the marketing bullshit. Clearly they would rather say "corrosion resistant non-metal" than just straight out saying "plastic".
Something to keep in mind: there are a few dozen EV1s that were not crushed, but given to colleges and museums "disabled" meaning they couldn't run. Some people have figured out how to re-enable them. One day, I want to take a reenabled EV1 for a drive around Millenium Center.
Thanks GM, because you crushed this car, a car that people wanted, I am enjoying my 4 year old Tesla Model 3!
I like the look of these cars,if they were still around they could be converted to modern battery's ! There is a demand for electric cars here in the UK with high fuel prices,I would love to be driving a EV 1.
Can you imagine an EV1 on L-Ion batteries ? Or a future gen Zinc Ion battery?
It would have been the ultimate electric car
how the description could call this car a "flop" is beyond me. it was never given a chance.
If you haven't seen it yet, watch "Who killed My Electric Car" to get the full story. There is also a "Part 2".
I like part 2 the best.
The real name of the documentary is " Who Killed The Electric Car?"
This car has been reincarnated as the Volt. There a so many similar features, even regen braking. The EV1 seemed to have it all, such a shame it was killed. Guess it's time to go watch that documentary.
This combined with the Saab 900 and you had the most advanced car of the 90s
I guess we can say that the VOLT was the EV1 with a gas engine and better batteries. Same T-shape design.
I would really like a car like this today, maybe a bit better batteries( I hardly have anyone in the backseat or much luggage) but otherwise this would be enough for most of my needs..
It's called a Nissan Leaf.
GM should have never killed this car off it should have remained as a niche vehicle since the technologies introduced introduced in the EV1 could later be used across the rest of GM's vehicle line. Think of where this car would be today after 10 years of refinement. Maybe it would look like the Pontiac Solstice/Saturn Sky but with a 200 mile range !
yeah nothing beats a good old classic car!
@autolinedetroit it was NOT a flop GM did not want to sell these, that is why it was only leased, that is why they were not marketed verry well
0-60 in less than 9 seconds??? That was fast back then!
8.4 sec to 100 kmh
GM pulled the plug the body design off the streets because the tear drop design. Its dynamic shape makes it super aerodynamic ie highway milage would be insanely good on a gas car. The rain drop is the most aerodynamic shape mother nature makes. It falls at high rate of speed with no lose in acceleration. The electric car factor played no role that I could tell. The proof of concept is the Aero Civic it gets 100 mpg easy and loses speed more naturally not up-abruptly as most cars do.
State of the art for 1995 was pretty interesting. Until one of these designs can surpass what is available in the current market place; electricity is a novelty for autos and did not survive the 1920s. But the potential for electric vehicles is far greater than ICE(gas burners). It is easier to move electric current than chemical fuel... and there are more ways to make electricity than making 9 billion gallons of our favorite gasolines?
And people wonder why I'm considering putting 1000$ down on a TESLA Model 3. How can we ever completely trust a company that killed this EV tech in the mid 90's?
+gnomaedh There's another thing.Delivery starts in 2 years.325.000 are sold up to now,each buyer payed 1000 US$ or 1000 Euro's depossid.That will bring 325 million developing-money,where the bank says "NO".Well thought of,Mr Musk !!
I don't get it. What's there to trust. Was it more evil to kill the electric car in '96 or never make them? Climate change wasn't identified as a concern until 1998. What laws or moral crimes did GM commit?
All a political shell game, no doubt. The good old USA would rather have a 'foothold' in the middle east at the expense ringing in the death of gasoline cars perhaps. Can you image how far along the EV1 would be by now?
and bought it back and killed it again
@@KTPurdy Electric cars are 200 years old.
where can i find a pedestrian button alarm 7:05
They could have had it all, pre-Adele
If that's the car of the future that means that our rulers don't want a furture.
the car never really runs off of the gas engine. once you go over 40 miles the engine turns on and recharges the battery so your always running off the electric engine. but honestly the average person drives about 29-60 miles per day, but people do that in several trips. so when your done with the car for the time you charge it until you get back.
Yes, they should have kept it and refined it over time like Toyota did with the Prius. I don't think the Volt is going to make it. It's too expensive and has too many compromises considering what the competition offers today.
Better range than Nissan Leaf and Chevy volt combined.
@RickMartin7
Was leased not sold. And just like every product there was a select few who want it. But it doesn't justify the cost of producing them.
"...and can accelerate from zero to sixty in less than nine seconds!" Wow! Hard to believe that was once considered fast. LOL.
the ev-1 was not a flop, they had more on a waiting list than they could make. GM made the ads for it scary and purposely only produced 4 a day. GM hated selling the car because it didn't have much of any expensive repairs. They only made the car to prove the law wasn't possible, they didn't want it to be a success so they sued the law and then stole every single car and crushed them. It was GMs best car ever made and for that reason it lasts long so you don't need to buy a new one every 5 years
The EV1 was a damn nice car and way ahead of its time.
The $33k price, limited seating, limited range, and cheap gas of the era are what killed it. Not some nefarious conspiracy.
Still GM should have stuck with it just based on the loyalty of EV1 owners instead of being shortsighted and milking the SUV cash cow.
You forgot to mention that those batteries would degrade fast, meaning an expensive replacement in short about of time.
I love how you only ever see these cars active in california, bring it up to canada in -36.. good luck.
For its day this car is was on point. Lead Acid batteries clearly are nowhere near ideal. Very Heavy for the amount power you can get from them. On a positive note they are much less expensive than Lithium Poly. I am very excited about this new generation of EV's rolling out. I plan to purchase a Nissan Leaf.
Regarding the car's range at 72 degrees (ideal). What's the range at 0 degrees? (a lot less). Hence my impractical claim. This range was achieved at shortening the batteries life (why the volt is limited to 40 miles). Charge times would not have improved in the interim unless you have installed a 220 or greater circuit in your home and GM had the hardware to handle it as well. I'm not going to rent a car just to visit relatives a mere 40 miles away for Christmas. If GM survives, buy a Volt.
I'm with you Bert.
Why would you when there are so many good cars on the market?
uhm. V8? chunky 400 cci displacement? gurgling, bubbling sound from the rear end tips? heavy, chunky doors? wide track? something like that classical?! I'm all in!
yup it took more than a little bump on the road to dent them too
we are soul mate dude!
I saw it. Sad story :(
Does 0 emissions include the power generated by the power company ?
1:18
If it's made by renewable energy, yes.
There are also emissions in the refining of crude oil into gasoline ⛽.
EV1 was the best eco product at that time !!!
It was not a flop,
Oil giants wanted it dead.
What was the song at the beginning?
Yeah
thanks a lot dud
you remind us the old days
the beautiful days
no body knows that the future would be sucks
i agree with you i enjoy older cars with all metal body panels, but, its the frame of the car that matters in a collision, not the body panels. a car would work without body panels. it would not work however without a frame. the body panels are plastic to prevent damage, and corrosion.
Geez, some aspects of the EV1 are better than my Leaf! Electric front window defroster would be a nice thing to have in my Leaf! Battery pack thermal management would be appreciated too. They even did inductive charging for crying out loud!!!
Whoever killed that program was a luddite turd.
It looks like they used the EV1 battery design in the Volt, it's the same "T" shape so that's cool!
@toyotaprius79 By the way they almost went bankrupt without it, maybe they should have kept it.
@rezn66
Its not really sad at all there was nearly NO DEMAND for the car, it was a car that was ahead of its time. It has most of the same features as the 01-03 Prius, in the 90's the first gen Prius wasn't profitable for Toyota. It wasn't until 2004+ when the Prius starting selling well. Therefore, its supply and demand, why waste the money making a car no one will but and have the pleasure of using its bad for business and in turn bad for the business employees
as soon as GM could get out of the EV1 they did, unfortunately for them people actually wanted them. That whole bit about being a market failure is a lie.
How many people paid retail price for them?
you should watch the movie who killed the electric car it is about this car
The movie "who killed the electric car?" seriously made me cry. It's sad how money can actually repress innovations in engineering.
Well, the EV1 was quite a nice car, cheap interior though...but I really support your comment.... what people don't see doesn't exist....*sigh*
Similar charge time to today’s evs. Interesting.
It would be hard to get it update and meet federal Regulations today...
I approve electric cars, but they need to be nice looking... a part of the fun of driving, is the looks of the car... the volt is a hybrid, but it looks cool ;)
Echo Odziz comment. Too bad the limited range of the car and a very limited battery life wouldn't make it practical. This is where the Volt is a much better idea. Instead of having a car capable of limited travel, you can have the best of both worlds and a battery designed to last.
And for all the people who say " what about charging or what if i runs out of charge"? ahhhhhh there weren't gas stations everywhere when gas cars became popular. And that "electric cars will over load power grids" lol, Most cars would be charging @ night, so home charging should not be a big problem Electricity is the universal currency of energy so why not? build charging stations at say colleges, Walmart, malls and shopping centers with a pay to charge option? i mean its best option to gas
@Laurenxorz
I doubt you'd be able to throw these batteries out, even after their usable life in the car they'd still have plenty of capacity for energy storage, EVEN AFTER THAT you'd still have valuable minerals that would be recycled to make new batteries. You'd have to go out of your way to have these wind up in a landfill, their worth plenty of money no matter what stage of use it's at.
@wrotedog A threat? How much of a fecking threat it would be if GM went bankrupt with out it?
@imurc i agree with you in some points. so you know why solar panels are inefficient. because the government will not let further development, electric cars are expensive because they will not let us get this technology so easy, you buy a car, you buy electric appliances. tv's stereos phones air conditioners heaters ETC ETC. and you have to work a life for keep ride your car see your favorite program hear you favorite music. do you call this freedom!? is a soft cage soft or not still is a cage
But it is so less efficient to run loads of little engines that one big Power Plant.
@rezn66
I have to say this comment, made my laugh. Whats wrong with gasoline? Fossil fuels are still used to produce most electric used today. Coal also is one of the major things used to power electrical things. And the environmental effect of making a electric car is FAR worse then the use of a standard gas car. If there was a better idea, I'd like to hear it. Whats your idea for a renewable resources? Non efficient solar that will cost families MORE in the cost of electric.
@deedundone Any idea how many batteries and toxic chemicals are in a electric car vs a standard car? Solar panels are too expensive and presently not worth doing. Hydroelectric/geothermal has very limited local uses, and is very cost prohibitive. But hey if people want a electric car, go for it, its a free country, if people think its better, they're wrong. As far as cars to save money, Diesel cars are the way to go.
T.T, i want one!!!!!
R.I.P. :(
Watching all the people who piss and moan in the comment sections of these various EV videos . . . makes me think of all the horse and buggy diehards who probably pissed and moaned in the early 1900s.
"Worthless piece of crap. It'll run out of gas and leave you stranded. Especially since there are hardly any filling stations around. My horse can stop and eat ANYWHERE! These new-fangled contraptions will never catch on, mark my words!"
...and oh, THOSE cars are really environmental friendly, they last decades......
Probably something like fiberglass.
It would be nice of them to make an EV2. I never seen the inside of this car or ever seen one in person due to military sending me over sea's a the time. It sure is a nice car just wish GM would get it's head out of it's ass and buck the system a lot of my friends died for (oil).
Or a fiber material.
@rezn66
Very nice to see people instantly assume things, and also get very defensive. Yes I did see the movie, and I also so a movie disproving nearly everything thing they said, both movies have some degree of truth. Who said it wasn't revolutionary? No one wanted the hassle of an electric car in the 90s, when the general consumer had access to cheap gas, why does it matter. I am in the automotive industry I know what I am talking about here. Why waste money on something no one wants.
@masterlee123 yeah that was 14years ago lol
a modern EV1 could be awesome. if done right
Every single tech on this car is what theh use is basic evs like today this was totally ahead its time!! You could preheat the damn thing , when connected to charger cmonn !! Then they made everyone destroy em ?? Wtff
This car was a serious threat.
It's not like they just stopped making them. They DESTROYED them. You can't even find a USED one even if you wanted. I'll never buy a GM car. EVER.
plug your car in at high school
@cougarsstudios lol, i know people would be scooping then up now if ppl really wanted to protest Bitch Please (BP) and make them go bankrupt for killing the gulf and endangering our planet. imagine if that car was still in production for the past 14 years it could have done so much good. But why worry about how much good a car can do for us, as Americans we love giving away money we work hard for LOL Wish i had an EV-1 as a second car over any Hybrid.
General motors screwed the pooch when they destroyed this car !...they don’t even have a working model anywhere?
to compare things to ...and understand how it was made?
General motors committed a crime against humanity and against the whole world when they destroyed these vehicles
16030 batteries are in computers
And those have been stacked together 600 and 1000 at a time and they are the basis of Elon musk’s wall battery they also have far better designs now ...look up;
Maxell capacitor batteries...
Elon musk just bought that company recently😉
@darkmaster388 It takes as much or more of this "dirty electricity" just to simply refine gasoline. So no matter how you slice it it's still more efficient and cleaner to run an electric car, even on coal. The batteries are mined only one time and then the valuable heavy metals can be recycled again and again. The original hybrids utilizing nickel batteries are STILL trucking along, long after critics like you said they would.
Jesus... this WAS THE CAR....
Regenerative brake system?? wow....
KEY LESS OPERATION!?
the charger system itself was a piece of wonder!
to bad GM killed it =(
Screw GM the Volt is shit it can only go 40 miles per charge. if they kept this awesome car on the market , and made a good effort to advertise it, the would have made so much money. but they don't want to dissapoint the oil companies.
ev1 generation TWO got 120 miles range. i just read a detailed account of an ev1 performing incredibly tackling hills with heater blaring and outrunning muscle cars on on-ramps etc. this killing the electric car is an illustration of capitalism gone bad
i agree with you lol its all about marketing