hell yeah it pulls that thing was fast. Ive only seen one driving on the road. I wished i would have stolen it and to drive it through GM's hq now. See their reaction.
This is so depressing to watch. One of the reasons this car failed other than the usual accusations: GM failed to invest more in advertising to spread the word of the EV1. Basically, very few Americans knew of the car..This car would have revitalize GM to bigger and better models for the EVs. Thanks to the SUV.
They were only available in three cities in California. That's hardly giving it a fair chance. What other model of vehicle is only leased via three dealers to see if it has a market. If they wanted it to succeed then they would have marketed to consumers nation wide like any other vehicle. The truth is that nether of us can really know for sure because it was never given a chance to succeed or fail. I didn't even know it existed till it was on it's way to the crusher...
This comment has received too many negative votesshow
I don't understand why everyone talks about how "fast" the EV1 was, and how the documentary on it bills it as "one of the fastest...cars."
It went 0-60 in 9 seconds and topped out at 80 mph. That's not fast.
I also don't understand the constant griping about GM buying them back and then destroying them when they discovered there was no feasible market at that time, apart from maybe 100 or so fanatical individuals. Chrysler did the exact same thing with their gas turbine car in the 1960s.
It was governed to 80mph to force the conservation of range, though I wish they would not have done that. It's not as if it crept from 60mph to 80mph, it got up to 80mph with no problem at all. It set a speed record for a production EV at GM's test track reaching 183 mph (295 km/h) in 1994.
With more than 1000 "Sold" and 5000 folks on waiting lists I don't think we're talking about "100 or so fanatical individuals".
6000 over the course of three years, unfortunately, does not a market make. Even 60,000 per year is considered substandard sales for most automobiles.
A mainstream electric car today might (read: MIGHT) sell in those numbers, particularly if manufacturers saved money by producing an electric variant of an existing model.
just listen to that sound! i love it, its so cool and space ship like. the only other cool car sound is the ford turbo v8 that sounds like a jet. if only the ev1 was still here :(
From GM documents: "Our (GM) suppliers stopped making replacement parts because of low demand, making it impossible to repair the vehicles. Of particular concern to us (the company) is the likelihood that each leased car's battery packs would require replacement at 25,000 mile intervals." This was the estimate they came up with. Believe them or not, but back then the batteries did not last as long like in the Prium today.
Perhaps that was the case with the PbA (Lead Acid) Gen1 EV1's, but there were NiMH Gen2's which were similar to the Toyota RAV4 EV, some of which escaped the crushers and now have 100,000 miles on their original batteries with little degradation of their original range.
So there were in fact Second Generation EV1's with long lasting NiMH not unlike those in the Prius and other hybrids. Had GM kept building EV1's they might be offering 300 mile Li versions, or Hybrid EV1's (ie: Volt) today.
gm killed these cars because theres no money to be made off of maintance or repair's no oil changes no exhaust belts/hoses/cooling system. heck even the brakes seemed to last forever but gm did sell the battery rights to exxon thanks GM
The government and the oil companies dont want fresh air elecric cars, They will charge you carbon footprint tolls for another 50 years so they will make even more money from you. there will never be a fueless car the elecric motor will allways have to sit next to a fossil burner. Fact
you dont have to wait! make the statement by converting you're gasoline car! it's up to the consumers to demand the change. Ask toyota for the PLUG IN HYBRIDS!
forget all the silly small minded comments. this is no joke. our world needs this technology now, it needed it then. thank you to those who post video of this idea in motion! and thank you to all you "backyarders" who perpetuate the idea and propogate the technology. we do not inherit the earth from our parents, we borrow it from our kids!!!!
Wow that car has alot of pep!, its too bad that GM and the US govenment made these cars dissapear. They would of been perfect in california, and here in toronto
Lmao! GM didn't "make them dissapear". There wasn't a market for them. They were only able to lease ~1k in 3 years. For comparison Toyota sells over 30,000 gas only Camrys each month.
Okay if there was no market for them then why did the ev1 club try to buy the last 70 cars before GM made them disappear by CRUSHING THEM. The drivers of the cars wanted to buy their cars, but GM tore them from their hands to crush them.
Because then GM would have to continue to supply replacement parts so the vehicles could run safely and properly. That would have cost them a ton of money.
They would have kept an entire factory dedicated to producing parts for a vehicle that only sold ~1,000 units. It would have been a financial nightmare.
Was that in a contract somewhere that they had to continue maintenance and producing parts? They could have just let them have the cars @ own risk and let cars die or get repaired in the hands of the owners. When MG left the USA or any time it died they did not recall all of their cars to crush them. Knowledgeable owners and ex-MG employees do any of the repair and parts can come from other dead cars.
Yes, jonnda is correct on this one, it's pretty obvious why such a car would be purposely destroyed. New technology like this is a major threat to the oil market, there is still trillions to be made from crude oil, so they will stop at nothing to prolong their reign
~70 cars won't hurt the oil market, but I think GM wanted the electric car out of sight and out of mind so people would not make it a threat. The last surviving handful of EV1(s?) today were "disabled" by GM and put in their vault, and supposedly their may have been also given to museums. Think about why they "had to" disable them like it was a piece of army surplus.
That would go against GM's policy. They make replacement parts for all their vehicles for at least 8 years after they end production.
Even if people signed a contract saying they don't hold GM responsible for any problems, there would still be legal loop holes. And imagine how bad GM would look when these cars started to fall apart and they couldn't do anything about it. The media would surely act as if they were refusing to help, when really there would be little they could do.
Replacement parts? in an EV ? yeah well those are NOT much. like the thousand of parts in an ICE. Brakes or brushes or some bearings. What is so wrong about making parts?? they do that with every car. And battery's ? I don't hear any toyota ra4 people crying....
Perhaps they could have taken back the small % back from folks who didn't want to keep them. They could have then parted those out to keep the rest running. But in all seriousness there's nothing to wear out on those cars. The first scheduled service is a coolant flush at 100,000 miles.
The coolant was probably mostly for the climate control, the EV1 used a unique heat pump. But many large EV motor controllers are also water cooled, though they don't need much of a radiator as they don't produce that much heat. Some examples of this include the Toyota Prius and the cafeelectric dot com Zilla 2K (2000A) motor controllers. In contrast the Honda Insight motor controller and many much smaller controllers are simply air cooled.
Funny, but I read that the batteries were only expected to last 25,000 miles. So to go through 100,000 miles you would need to replace the batteries 3 times, an expensive proposition since the battery packs cost in the thousands of dollars. I believe it was about $5000 each time the batteries needed replaciing. Considering the car was subsidized by GM and cost $40K instead of $80K, that would be $15,000 over the life of the car (assuming nothing broke down which may not be true).
It is funny how most people read something somewhere and take it to be hard fact. Don't take my word, do some research. The EV1 was built with two different battery types, PbA(Lead-Acid) and NiMH(2nd gen). It's difficult to say how long they may have lasted in the EV1's. There are RAV4-EV's with NiMH batteries which do have 100,000 miles on their original batteries, and Lithium batteries are proving to be even more robust. What are you assuming would have failed, aside from the batteries?
Actually, this is from GM itself, not a random source. The current Chervrolet website where the Volt development is tracked has the information I posted - I did not just pull it from anywhere. Can you point to me a GM website that states those batteries would last 100,000 miles with NiMH? I cannot find that anywhere. If you can do that then I will rest my case about the batteries short life cycle. Comparing EV1 batteries to modern hybrids is a mistake since they have improved since then.
The best we can do is compare the EV1 to the RAV4EV of the same era to demonstrate the state of NiMH battery maturity at that time.
From Wikipedia "The RAV4EV's battery system is a wearable item...Toyota tested the RAV4EV in Japan for 300,000 miles over two years before introducing..."
There are numerous accounts of private RAV4EV's still in use with over 100k miles.
The NiMH EV1 simply wasn't allowed to be driven enough for us to say for certain. The 25k mile figure was probably for PbA.
I have been taken to task about the inaccuracy of Wilkipidia, so a dubious source of information at best. As I mentioned before, the number I pulled is from GM's website under Volt technology. I stand by the 25,000 miles for either battery technology back then. In any case, it appesrs that GM is going to pay for its "sins" anyway as they are near bankruptcy and appear on the verge of eliminating a number of brands (Saab, Hummer, Buick, Pontiac, Saturn are all under review).
I have no idea why they "crushed" the EV1. But I can say they probably didn't want them to sell seeing as they lost a lot of money on each one. GM's CFO recently admitted that the Volt will also be sold at a loss. And the Volt is over a decade newer, and uses far fewer and cheaper batteries.
I really wish people would leave GM alone with the EV1. They pioneered the modern electric car, and are the only major automaker committed to bringing it back. They should be getting praise not punishment.
But that´s just ridiculous. If you sell a car, make it profitable...even if it is an electric car. I mean, the demand was that high and I believe they could have made a lot of money on this even if the car was extra pricy
that looks like it pulls
chevyrider6 2 years ago
hell yeah it pulls that thing was fast. Ive only seen one driving on the road. I wished i would have stolen it and to drive it through GM's hq now. See their reaction.
fd3srules 2 years ago
HAHAHA THEY'LL BE LIKE ohh wow look at that EV1 then they all spill coffee ahhh omg!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! lol and then you just gun it lol
chevyrider6 2 years ago
This is so depressing to watch. One of the reasons this car failed other than the usual accusations: GM failed to invest more in advertising to spread the word of the EV1. Basically, very few Americans knew of the car..This car would have revitalize GM to bigger and better models for the EVs. Thanks to the SUV.
DRSmetal 3 years ago
Man that sounds cool!!!! Hmmmmmmmmmmm
AngelusofDeus 3 years ago 2
They were only available in three cities in California. That's hardly giving it a fair chance. What other model of vehicle is only leased via three dealers to see if it has a market. If they wanted it to succeed then they would have marketed to consumers nation wide like any other vehicle. The truth is that nether of us can really know for sure because it was never given a chance to succeed or fail. I didn't even know it existed till it was on it's way to the crusher...
D0li0 3 years ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
I don't understand why everyone talks about how "fast" the EV1 was, and how the documentary on it bills it as "one of the fastest...cars."
It went 0-60 in 9 seconds and topped out at 80 mph. That's not fast.
I also don't understand the constant griping about GM buying them back and then destroying them when they discovered there was no feasible market at that time, apart from maybe 100 or so fanatical individuals. Chrysler did the exact same thing with their gas turbine car in the 1960s.
RadialSkid 3 years ago
It was governed to 80mph to force the conservation of range, though I wish they would not have done that. It's not as if it crept from 60mph to 80mph, it got up to 80mph with no problem at all. It set a speed record for a production EV at GM's test track reaching 183 mph (295 km/h) in 1994.
With more than 1000 "Sold" and 5000 folks on waiting lists I don't think we're talking about "100 or so fanatical individuals".
D0li0 3 years ago
6000 over the course of three years, unfortunately, does not a market make. Even 60,000 per year is considered substandard sales for most automobiles.
A mainstream electric car today might (read: MIGHT) sell in those numbers, particularly if manufacturers saved money by producing an electric variant of an existing model.
RadialSkid 3 years ago
just listen to that sound! i love it, its so cool and space ship like. the only other cool car sound is the ford turbo v8 that sounds like a jet. if only the ev1 was still here :(
cocomarco101 3 years ago 2
such a cool car
JJO5478 3 years ago
From GM documents: "Our (GM) suppliers stopped making replacement parts because of low demand, making it impossible to repair the vehicles. Of particular concern to us (the company) is the likelihood that each leased car's battery packs would require replacement at 25,000 mile intervals." This was the estimate they came up with. Believe them or not, but back then the batteries did not last as long like in the Prium today.
AcuraT 3 years ago
Perhaps that was the case with the PbA (Lead Acid) Gen1 EV1's, but there were NiMH Gen2's which were similar to the Toyota RAV4 EV, some of which escaped the crushers and now have 100,000 miles on their original batteries with little degradation of their original range.
So there were in fact Second Generation EV1's with long lasting NiMH not unlike those in the Prius and other hybrids. Had GM kept building EV1's they might be offering 300 mile Li versions, or Hybrid EV1's (ie: Volt) today.
D0li0 3 years ago
gm killed these cars because theres no money to be made off of maintance or repair's no oil changes no exhaust belts/hoses/cooling system. heck even the brakes seemed to last forever but gm did sell the battery rights to exxon thanks GM
skywarp187 4 years ago
lol and that´s EXACTLY what we people want, isn´t it? A maintance free car.
Nichen 4 years ago
Here'showtheEV1accelerates*beep*ohcredit.
LovePontiac 4 years ago
(Blushes) Ya, should have re-shot that one...
D0li0 4 years ago
Lmao, no way. And then you almost hit the guy. It's perfect. So what is it she says when you step on it?
LovePontiac 4 years ago
i will never, ever, buy a GM car ever again in my life.
beatles4sale 4 years ago
The government and the oil companies dont want fresh air elecric cars, They will charge you carbon footprint tolls for another 50 years so they will make even more money from you. there will never be a fueless car the elecric motor will allways have to sit next to a fossil burner. Fact
bobdriver1 4 years ago
you dont have to wait! make the statement by converting you're gasoline car! it's up to the consumers to demand the change. Ask toyota for the PLUG IN HYBRIDS!
akyramoto 4 years ago
These would have a bit of shove off the line with all that torque from the electric motor!
Memphis35 4 years ago
forget all the silly small minded comments. this is no joke. our world needs this technology now, it needed it then. thank you to those who post video of this idea in motion! and thank you to all you "backyarders" who perpetuate the idea and propogate the technology. we do not inherit the earth from our parents, we borrow it from our kids!!!!
sirbflean 4 years ago
Wow that car has alot of pep!, its too bad that GM and the US govenment made these cars dissapear. They would of been perfect in california, and here in toronto
abcdefghiklmnop12345 5 years ago
Lmao! GM didn't "make them dissapear". There wasn't a market for them. They were only able to lease ~1k in 3 years. For comparison Toyota sells over 30,000 gas only Camrys each month.
LovePontiac 5 years ago
Okay if there was no market for them then why did the ev1 club try to buy the last 70 cars before GM made them disappear by CRUSHING THEM. The drivers of the cars wanted to buy their cars, but GM tore them from their hands to crush them.
jonnda 5 years ago
Because then GM would have to continue to supply replacement parts so the vehicles could run safely and properly. That would have cost them a ton of money.
They would have kept an entire factory dedicated to producing parts for a vehicle that only sold ~1,000 units. It would have been a financial nightmare.
LovePontiac 5 years ago
Was that in a contract somewhere that they had to continue maintenance and producing parts? They could have just let them have the cars @ own risk and let cars die or get repaired in the hands of the owners. When MG left the USA or any time it died they did not recall all of their cars to crush them. Knowledgeable owners and ex-MG employees do any of the repair and parts can come from other dead cars.
jonnda 5 years ago
Yes, jonnda is correct on this one, it's pretty obvious why such a car would be purposely destroyed. New technology like this is a major threat to the oil market, there is still trillions to be made from crude oil, so they will stop at nothing to prolong their reign
DjNinjade 5 years ago
~70 cars won't hurt the oil market, but I think GM wanted the electric car out of sight and out of mind so people would not make it a threat. The last surviving handful of EV1(s?) today were "disabled" by GM and put in their vault, and supposedly their may have been also given to museums. Think about why they "had to" disable them like it was a piece of army surplus.
jonnda 5 years ago
That would go against GM's policy. They make replacement parts for all their vehicles for at least 8 years after they end production.
Even if people signed a contract saying they don't hold GM responsible for any problems, there would still be legal loop holes. And imagine how bad GM would look when these cars started to fall apart and they couldn't do anything about it. The media would surely act as if they were refusing to help, when really there would be little they could do.
LovePontiac 4 years ago
Replacement parts? in an EV ? yeah well those are NOT much. like the thousand of parts in an ICE. Brakes or brushes or some bearings. What is so wrong about making parts?? they do that with every car. And battery's ? I don't hear any toyota ra4 people crying....
Dilekz 4 years ago
Perhaps they could have taken back the small % back from folks who didn't want to keep them. They could have then parted those out to keep the rest running. But in all seriousness there's nothing to wear out on those cars. The first scheduled service is a coolant flush at 100,000 miles.
D0li0 4 years ago
You're kidding right? Coolant for what?
Chicahominy 4 years ago
The coolant was probably mostly for the climate control, the EV1 used a unique heat pump. But many large EV motor controllers are also water cooled, though they don't need much of a radiator as they don't produce that much heat. Some examples of this include the Toyota Prius and the cafeelectric dot com Zilla 2K (2000A) motor controllers. In contrast the Honda Insight motor controller and many much smaller controllers are simply air cooled.
D0li0 4 years ago
Funny, but I read that the batteries were only expected to last 25,000 miles. So to go through 100,000 miles you would need to replace the batteries 3 times, an expensive proposition since the battery packs cost in the thousands of dollars. I believe it was about $5000 each time the batteries needed replaciing. Considering the car was subsidized by GM and cost $40K instead of $80K, that would be $15,000 over the life of the car (assuming nothing broke down which may not be true).
AcuraT 4 years ago
It is funny how most people read something somewhere and take it to be hard fact. Don't take my word, do some research. The EV1 was built with two different battery types, PbA(Lead-Acid) and NiMH(2nd gen). It's difficult to say how long they may have lasted in the EV1's. There are RAV4-EV's with NiMH batteries which do have 100,000 miles on their original batteries, and Lithium batteries are proving to be even more robust. What are you assuming would have failed, aside from the batteries?
D0li0 4 years ago
Actually, this is from GM itself, not a random source. The current Chervrolet website where the Volt development is tracked has the information I posted - I did not just pull it from anywhere. Can you point to me a GM website that states those batteries would last 100,000 miles with NiMH? I cannot find that anywhere. If you can do that then I will rest my case about the batteries short life cycle. Comparing EV1 batteries to modern hybrids is a mistake since they have improved since then.
AcuraT 3 years ago
The best we can do is compare the EV1 to the RAV4EV of the same era to demonstrate the state of NiMH battery maturity at that time.
From Wikipedia "The RAV4EV's battery system is a wearable item...Toyota tested the RAV4EV in Japan for 300,000 miles over two years before introducing..."
There are numerous accounts of private RAV4EV's still in use with over 100k miles.
The NiMH EV1 simply wasn't allowed to be driven enough for us to say for certain. The 25k mile figure was probably for PbA.
D0li0 3 years ago
I have been taken to task about the inaccuracy of Wilkipidia, so a dubious source of information at best. As I mentioned before, the number I pulled is from GM's website under Volt technology. I stand by the 25,000 miles for either battery technology back then. In any case, it appesrs that GM is going to pay for its "sins" anyway as they are near bankruptcy and appear on the verge of eliminating a number of brands (Saab, Hummer, Buick, Pontiac, Saturn are all under review).
AcuraT 3 years ago
They leased every single one that they produced. There was an "unofficial" list of 5000 who wanted one. It was only "available" in 3 locations.
D0li0 4 years ago
I have no idea why they "crushed" the EV1. But I can say they probably didn't want them to sell seeing as they lost a lot of money on each one. GM's CFO recently admitted that the Volt will also be sold at a loss. And the Volt is over a decade newer, and uses far fewer and cheaper batteries.
I really wish people would leave GM alone with the EV1. They pioneered the modern electric car, and are the only major automaker committed to bringing it back. They should be getting praise not punishment.
LovePontiac 4 years ago
But that´s just ridiculous. If you sell a car, make it profitable...even if it is an electric car. I mean, the demand was that high and I believe they could have made a lot of money on this even if the car was extra pricy
Nichen 4 years ago
GOD I love this car...
Nichen 5 years ago
yeah, me too; but Fiat will never give us italians an electric car
SorenTimble 5 years ago
i'm glad you post this up, love the car...
guitarpikz 5 years ago