The First Production EV - GM EV1

In the mid-1990’s the California Air Resources Board, pushed for the state’s 7 largest vehicle manufacturers to produce at least 2% of their vehicle production that were Zero Emission Vehicles (ZEV’s).  GM responded with a production variation of the Impact concept car that was shown at the Detroit Auto Show in 1990.  The EV1 was the first mass-produced EV of the modern era.

The EV1 went into limited production in 1996, and was made available for leasing only, to a small number of markets in California, Arizona and Georgia.  The vehicles were maintained by a small group of Saturn dealerships.

Consumer interest was very high, despite the range of only about 80-100 miles with the original Lead Acid Battery.  Range was later increased to 100-140 miles with the later 26.4kWh Nickle Metal hydride (NiMH) battery pack. A total of 1117 EV1’s were produced when production stopped in 2002.

GM wound up litigating the CARB ZEV mandate, which resulted in loosening the emission requirements.  GM’s lease contract gave no provision for the lease holder to purchase the vehicle, and GM took them all back.  Controversially, just about the entire production run was crushed, sparing only about 40 which were decommissioned and donated to museums and educational facilities.

GM was accused of ‘killing’ the electric car for fear of additional government EV mandates forcing them to sell cars that were less profitable than their gasoline counterparts.  A documentary on the EV1, “Who Killed The Electric Car” was produced in 1996 and debuted at the Sundance Film Festival.

Lawrence Romanosky, Calgary, Canada

Lromanosky@me.com, 403-607-8625