An EV1 Experience 05 Hillclimb

[Drpepper687]

If GM hadn't crushed the EV1's in the desert and continued the project, they wouldn't be in the trouble they are in now. Thousands of EV1 owners wanted to keep their cars.

GM is reaping what they sowed. They could've been on top of the world if they didn't scrap the EV. Chevy Volt may have some promise though, IF they can make it affordable.

[emforty2]

GM is bankrupt by monday

[turboshagna]

The EV-1 had some bullshit insane NI-MH super battery that just said 'whatever' when the motor tried to stress the shit out of it. That was the battery that Panasonic made for GM then GM sold to the Texaco I think which got taken over by Chevron and then tried to sue anybody that even thought of using that battery technology...

[oldtilter]

Ya ultra-caps and buck-boost converter..

[TheLastNail]

If you want an electric car you will have to build it yourself. No way the oilgolopoly will let anything else on the road--and somehow we're so stupid we put oil men in the White House. HTF did that happen?

[Memphis35]

FUCK GM!

Oh and did you let your lady have a drive?

[1foxtrot70]

I agree about GM. One need only do a Google on "The Great American Streetcar Scandal". Were it not for GM, Firestone and Standard Oil. We (America) would be alot, and I mean ALOT farther along with EV technology and production. The EV-1 although later than the scandal of the late 1930's is part of the deep mind set of GM. What is good for GM, is NOT always good for America!

[abcdefghiklmnop12345]

I totaly agree! FUCK GM!!!

the ev1 was an awesome ideal considering the fact that it was one of the "first" ture mass produced electric car.. and considering the fact that it didnt have like 100 years of automotive innovation behind it like gas powered cars.. immagine what the ev1 would of been like with 100+ years behind it of experimentation and innovation.. it would be totaly awesome.. But the ev1 is an enginnering marvel for what they have done in the small time frame

[mykallb]

GM did nothing that any other manufacturer did including Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Ford and Chrysler in crushing the vehicles. That's right, they all crushed their vehicles.

It's amazing how people watch one movie and don't bother to read and suddenly they're historians. I never cease to marvel at just how DUMB America is. REALLY DUMB. Is it our drinking water, or just watered down genes? IDK, but it has me really concerned.

[D0li0]

Actually, there are still a few GM S10 EV's, Ford Ranger EV's, Toyota RAV4-EV's, and even a hand full of Chrysler EPIC/TEVan electric minivans in private hands which were not crushed. They were either sold (perhaps on accident) into utility fleets and then to individuals, or in the case of Toyota and Ford leasers were given the option to buy out the lease as it ended. GM could have done the same with the EV1, they say they had their reasons, but I don't buy them. I would have bought an EV1....

[ImYourLastResort]

Awesome set of videos. I assume you didn't know of the impending crushing of the EVs before you decided to make them?

[D0li0]

Actually I did know they were planning on destroying them. That's why I drove my Insight from Seattle to LAX. I wanted to have some first hand experience so noone could tell me that they never existed, and I took some video as proof. (Grin) Crazy huh.

[ImYourLastResort]

Well good for you I say! :)

[speedingskills]

I'd love to have one

[justiniom]

And I still hear the anti-ev brigade harping on about how electric cars supposedly can't go up hills well! GM was so colosally stupid to kill off their ev car program as part of a corporate policy direction that ignored the future and focused almost solely on trying to make a short term easy buck by mainly pedaling gas guzzling heavy crude truck wagons(or so called suvs)to the public.

[fixman88]

That just demonstrates the lack of knowledge about how electric motors work (they have an essentially flat torque curve). I so much wanted one of these!

[diggingforgold]

It's not the electric motor people are worried about when they criticize EVs. It's the high amps that are drawn from the pack while going uphill that can cause premature battery death. EVs (or specifically, batteries) don't like to climb hills a lot.

Hopefully the new generation of EVs coming out soon will all be equipped with ultra caps to provide power on demand without stressing the expensive battery pack too much.

[GuruMN]

The Prius has three pretty big caps (450 volt 2700uf)in its inverter. It wouldn't be hard to implement a bank of capacitors in an EV and they are not that heavy relative to the weight of batteries. The guy at the Metricmind website has ultracaps in his Audi EV that he is building and used to have them in his Honda CRX EV and he did two pretty cool looking burnouts with just the power from the caps.