The General Motors EV1 is a 2-door coupé from GM (General Motors), built from 1996 to 1999, when airbags, anti-lock brakes and Japanese build quality became the world standard. Under the bonnet: electric motor.
Where it came from
The General Motors EV1 is a subcompact car that was produced from 1996 to 1999 by the American automaker General Motors (GM). A two-door, two-seat coupe, it was the first attempt by a major American automaker at a purpose-built, mass-produced electric vehicle following the 1990 introduction of the emissions standards in the US. In 1990, GM debuted the battery electric Impact prototype, from which the design of the production EV1 was largely inspired. The California Air Resources Board enacted a mandate that year, stating that the seven leading automakers marketing vehicles in the US must produce and sell zero-emissions vehicles to maintain access to the California market. GM began manufacturing the car in 1996. In its initial stages of production, most of them were leased to consumers in California, Arizona, and Georgia.
Within a year of the EV1's release, leasing programs were also launched in various other American states. Produced in two short generations, the EV1 featured a lightweight aluminum frame and a three-phase AC induction motor capable of producing 137 brake horsepower (102 kW). At the 1998 Detroit Auto Show, GM unveiled several EV1 prototypes, comprising a series hybrid, a parallel hybrid, a compressed natural gas variant, and a four-door conversion. Despite favorable customer reception, GM believed that electric cars occupied an unprofitable niche of the automobile market, ultimately reclaiming and crushing most of the cars. In 2003, GM terminated the EV1 program, disregarding protests from customers. The EV1's cancellation has remained a subject of dispute
Under the skin
Power comes from electric motor. It weighs 3086 lb with lead–acid battery. It shifts through a Single-speed reduction integrated with motor and differential. The layout matters: the engine drives the front wheels, the packaging choice that gives a small car a big cabin. The wheelbase is 98.9 in. These are manufacturer figures carried by Wikipedia and Wikidata, not road-test measurements.
In context
Its family tree is legible: assembly was at Lansing, Michigan (Lansing Craft Center), United States. Its contemporaries in the catalogue — the Škoda Auto Škoda Octavia, the Lotus Elise, the Porsche Boxster — show what else the money bought that year. Nearby in the GM (General Motors) catalogue sit the 1955 Chevrolet and the 1957 Chevrolet.