The Chrysler ETV-1 is a 2-door electric coupe from Chrysler, built from 1979, as the oil crises and the first emissions rules rewired the industry.
The background
The Chrysler ETV-1 was a passenger car glider produced by Chrysler as a test bed for motor and drive controls. With a motor produced by General Electric, it was claimed to be the "first ground up modern day electric vehicle design." Two vehicles were produced: ETV-1 and ETV-1-2. While the original is in private hands, the second is in the Boyertown Museum of Historic Vehicles in Boyertown, Pennsylvania.
Under the skin
The record carries the shape — a 2-door electric coupe — and the layout: the engine drives the front wheels, the packaging choice that gives a small car a big cabin. The engine, output and weight have not yet reached the open record, and MotorJury does not guess at them.
Where it sits
Its family tree is legible: assembly was at United States. Its contemporaries in the catalogue — the Lancia Delta, the Mercedes-Benz G-Class, the GM (General Motors) Saab 900 — show what else the money bought that year. Its Chrysler stablemates include the Chrysler Falcon and the Chrysler Chronos.
What it costs now
There is no federal ownership record for the Chrysler ETV-1 — it predates the complaint database or was never sold in the United States — so MotorJury publishes no running-cost figure for it. For a car of this age the price is set by the collector market and the condition of the individual example, not by a formula.