EV1 - General Motor First Electric Car
1996 to 2003
The General Motors EV1 was an electric car
produced and leased by the General Motors
Corporation from 1996 to 2003. It was the
first mass-produced and purpose-designed
electric vehicle of the modern era from a
major automaker, and the first GM car
designed to be an electric vehicle from the
outset. The decision to mass-produce an
electric car came after GM received a
favorable reception for its 1990 Impact
electric concept car, upon which the design
of the EV1 drew heavily. Inspired partly by
the Impact's perceived potential for
success, the California Air Resources Board
subsequently passed a mandate that made the
production and sale of zero-emission
vehicles a requirement for the seven major
automakers selling cars in the United States
to continue to market their vehicles in
California. The EV1 was made available
through limited lease-only agreements,
initially to residents of the cities of Los
Angeles, California and Phoenix and Tucson,
Arizona. EV1 lessees were officially
participants in a "real-world engineering
evaluation" and market study into the
feasibility of producing and marketing a
commuter electric vehicle in select U.S.
markets undertaken by GM's Advanced
Technology Vehicles group. The cars were not
available for purchase, and could be
serviced only at designated Saturn
dealerships. Within a year of the EV1's
release, leasing programs were also launched
in San Francisco and Sacramento, California,
along with a limited program in the state of
Georgia.
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In 1999, GM released a Gen II version of the
EV1. Major improvements included lower
production costs, quieter operation,
extensive weight reduction, and the advent
of a nickel-metal hydride battery. The Gen
II models were initially released with a 60
amp-hour Panasonic lead-acid battery pack, a
slight improvement over the Gen I power
source using the same 312 V voltage; later
models featured an Ovonics NiMH battery
rated at 77 Ah with 343 volts. Cars with the
lead-acid pack had a range of 80 to 100
miles, while the NiMH cars could travel
between 100 and 140 miles between charges.
For the second-generation EV1, the leasing
program was expanded to the cities of San
Diego, Sacramento, and Atlanta; monthly
payments ranged from $349 to $574. 457 Gen
II EV1s were produced by General Motors and
leased to customers in the eight months
following December 1999. According to some
sources, hundreds of drivers wanted to but
could not become EV1 lessees.
In late 2003, General Motors, then led by
CEO Rick Wagoner, officially canceled the
EV1 program. GM stated that it could not
sell enough of the cars to make the EV1
profitable. In addition, the cost of
maintaining a parts supply and service
infrastructure for the 15-year minimum
required by the state of California meant
that existing leases would not be renewed,
and all the cars would have to be returned
to GM's possession. At least 58 EV1 drivers
sent letters and deposit checks to GM,
requesting lease extensions at no risk or
cost to the automaker. The drivers
reportedly agreed to be responsible for the
maintenance and repair costs of the EV1, and
would allow GM the right to terminate the
lease if expensive repairs were needed. On
June 28, GM famously refused the offer and
returned the checks, which totaled $22,000;
By contrast, Honda, which had taken similar
actions with its EV+ program, agreed to
extend its customers' leases. In November
2003, GM began reclaiming the cars; several
were donated to museums and educational
institutions, albeit with deactivated
powertrains meant to keep the cars from ever
running again, but the majority were sent to
car crushers to be destroyed, allegedly with
government permission to do so.