General Motors EV1
Credit: General Motors/Clean Technica
You may have heard of the General Motors EV1 – an electric car produced between 1996 & 1999. It was unique in a number of ways, including being the first GM vehicle designed purely as an electric car & also in bearing the General Motors brand,1 rather than that of one of its divisions (Chevrolet, Buick etc.)
Predecessor of the EV1 was the Impact concept car, first shown to the public in January 1990, by GM chairman Roger Smith, at the 1990 LA Auto Show. In 1994, a modified Impact set a land speed record of 183.822 mph (295.833 kph).2
Impact land speed record car
Credit: tzev.com
Many sources, including Wikipedia describe it as, “a land speed record for production electric vehicles”. Apparently, “production”, refers to the 50 Impacts hand built for the, PrEView, programme – which saw cars lent out for one or two weeks at a time, to gain feedback from members of the public.1
Ultimate fate of the EV1 is recorded in the iconic 2006 documentary, “Who Killed the Electric Car?”
Read about it at
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Who_Killed_the_Electric_Car%3F
Buy the DVD at
http://www.whokilledtheelectriccar.com/
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Where the land speed records for electric cars are now
On 28 July 2016, a land speed record for street legal EVs was set at 205.6 mph (330.9 kph) by a modified Corvette.
For vehicles unhampered by street legality concerns, Drayson Technology moved the record up to 219.1mph (352.6kph) in March 2014.
As of 22 September 2016, the outright record was set at 341.4 mph (549.3 kph) by Venturi – an offshoot of the organisation that runs the Formula E team.
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1 Wikipedia: “General Motors EV1”, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Motors_EV1
2 tzev.com: ‘GM 1989-1993 “Impact”’
http://www.tzev.com/1989_1993_impact_ev1_prototype_c1994_LandSpeedRecord.html / Who Killed the Electric Car EV1 General Motors EV1was an electric car produced leased General Motors 1996 to 1999 first mass-produced purpose-designed electric vehicle modern era major automaker first GM car designed electric vehicle first only passenger car sold under the corporate General Motors GM name branded under one mass-produce electric car GM received favorable reception 1990 Impact electric concept car design EV1 Impact's perceived potential success California Air Resources Board CARB subsequently passed mandate production sale zero-emissions vehicles ZEV requirement seven major automakers selling cars United States market vehicles California EV1 made available limited lease-only agreements Los Angeles California Phoenix Tucson Arizona EV1 lessees real-world engineering evaluation market study feasibility producing marketing commuter electric vehicle select U.S. markets GM's Advanced Technology Vehicles group cars not available for purchase serviced only designated Saturn dealerships EV1's release leasing programs launched San Francisco Sacramento California limited program Georgia customer reaction EV1 positive GM electric cars unprofitable niche automobile market crushing crush crushed most of the cars protesting customers /
