The General Motors EV1 was an electric car produced and leased by the General Motors Corporation from 1996 to 1999. It was the first mass-produced and purpose-designed electric vehicle of the modern era from a major automaker, and the first GM car designed to be an electric vehicle from the outset. The decision to mass-produce an electric car came after GM received a favorable reception for its 1990 Impact electric concept car, upon which the design of the EV1 drew heavily. Inspired partly by the Impact's perceived potential for success, the California Air Resources Board subsequently passed a mandate that made the production and sale of zero-emission vehicles a requirement for the seven major automakers selling cars in the United States to continue to market their vehicles in California. The EV1 was made available through limited lease-only agreements, initially to residents of the cities of Los Angeles, California and Phoenix and Tucson, Arizona. EV1 lessees were officially participants in a "real-world engineering evaluation" and market study into the feasibility of producing and marketing a commuter electric vehicle in select U.S. markets undertaken by GM's Advanced Technology Vehicles group. The cars were not available for purchase, and could be serviced only at designated Saturn dealerships. Within a year of the EV1's release, leasing programs were also launched in San Francisco and Sacramento, California, along with a limited program in the state of Georgia.
While customer reaction to the EV1 was positive, GM viewed the program as evidence that electric cars occupied an unprofitable niche of the automobile market, evidenced by their ability to lease only 800 units in face of production costs of US$1 billion over four years. An alliance of the major automakers fought the CARB regulation in court, resulting in a slackening of the ZEV stipulation, permitting the companies to produce super-low-emissions vehicles, natural gas vehicles, and hybrid cars in place of pure electrics. The EV1 program was subsequently discontinued in 2002, and all cars on the road were repossessed. Lessees were not given the option to purchase their cars from GM, which cited parts, service, and liability regulations. The majority of the repossessed EV1s were crushed, and the rest delivered to museums and educational institutes with their electric powertrains deactivated, under the agreement that the cars were not to be reactivated and driven on the road.
The EV1's discontinuation remains controversial, with electric car enthusiasts and environmental interest groups accusing GM of self-sabotaging its electric car program due to its negative profitability, while also blaming the oil industry for conspiring to keep electric cars off the road.
History
Origins
In January 1990, GM chairman Roger Smith demonstrated the Impact, an electric concept car, at the 1990 Los Angeles Auto Show. The car had been developed by electric vehicle company AeroVironment, using design knowledge gained from GM's participation in the 1987 World Solar Challenge, a trans-Australia race for solar vehicles, with the Sunraycer, which went on to win the competition. Alan Cocconi of AC Propulsion designed and built the original drive controller electronics for the Impact, and the design was later refined by Hughes Electronics. On April 18, 1990, Smith announced that the Impact would become a production vehicle.
Impressed by the viability of the Impact, and motivated by GM's promise to produce the Impact, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) moved on a large environmental initiative, ruled that each of the U.S.'s seven largest carmakers—the largest of which was GM—would be required to make 2% of its fleet emission-free by 1998, 5% by 2001, and 10% by 2003, in accordance with consumer demand, in order to continue to sell cars in California. The mandate was instated to combat California's poor air quality, which at the time was worse than the other 49 states combined. Other members of what was then the American Automobile Manufacturers Association, along with Toyota, Nissan and Honda, each also developed a prototype zero-emissions vehicle in response to the new mandate.
In 1994, GM debuted 50 hand-built Impacts to use in a consumer study. The cars would be lent to drivers for periods of one to two weeks, under the agreement that their experiences would be logged; the program was known as PrEView, and organized by GM's Sean McNamara. Volunteers had to own a garage where a high-current charging unit could be installed by an electric company. McNamara expected at most eighty volunteers in the Los Angeles area, but was forced to close the phone lines after 10,000 people called in. In metropolitan New York, 14,000 callers responded before the lines were closed. Driver response to the cars was favorable, as were reviews by car magazines. According to Motor Trend , "The Impact is precisely one of those occasions where GM proves beyond any doubt that it knows how to build fantastic automobiles. This is the world's only electric vehicle that drives like a real car." That year, a modified Impact set a land speed record for production electric vehicles of 183 mph (295 km/h).
Automobile called the car's ride and handling "amazing," praising its "smooth delivery of power". The Impact was a hit with consumers; but according to some, GM was less than pleased with the prospect of a successful electric car. According to Matthew L. Wald, in a front-page story in The New York Times :
By Wald's claims, GM was preparing for and simultaneously fighting against the CARB regulations; the company had done its best, but found that the mass-market electric car was not currently feasible. According to Dennis Minano, then-GM Vice President for Energy and Environment, "Is it what our customer wants?" GM was not alone in its denunciation of electric vehicles as a viable alternative to the gasoline car; according to Robert J. Eaton, then-chairman of Chrysler, "The question is whether the market is ready for the product... if the law is there, we'll meet it... at this point of time, nobody can forecast that we can make ." In the words of Thomas C. Jorling, then Commissioner of Environmental Conservation for New York State, which had adopted the California emission program, consumers had demonstrated tremendous interest in electric cars, but automakers did not want to render obsolete their multi-billion dollar investments in internal combustion engine technology. After PrEView ended, GM destroyed all 50 of the cars.
Release of Gen I and initial reaction
GM continued work on its electric car program. By 1996, the Impact concept had evolved into the GM EV1; it was to be the first GM car in history to wear a "General Motors" nameplate, instead of one of GM's marques. The first-generation, or "Gen I" car, which would be powered by lead-acid batteries, had a stated range of 70 to 100 miles; 660 examples in dark green, red, and silver were produced. On December 5, 1996, GM began delivering the EV1s to its selection of carefully-screened lessees; in similar fashion to the Impact's PrEView program, only residents of Southern California and Arizona could participate in the leasing program, and there was no option to purchase the cars. A contractual clause specifically disallowed re-purchase of the vehicle at the conclusion of the leasing period. Domestic television networks, as well as crews from the BBC, Japan's NHK were on hand for the launch. Actors Ed Begley Jr. and Alexandra Paul were among the first to sign their GMAC leases. Other lessees included a Los Angeles city councilman, a Skylab solar-panel engineer, and Jordan Harris, the president of Sony Music. The car's release was accompanied by an $8 million promotional campaign, which included prime-time TV advertising, billboards, a web site, and an appearance at the premiere of the Sylvester Stallone film Daylight . By the time the release event wrapped up, 40 EV1s had been leased through 24 Saturn dealers; GM estimated that 100 EV1s would be leased by the end of the year, and went on to lease 300 more in 1997. The car's limited launch sparked concern that GM had made a deal with CARB to delay the implementation of the first phase of the ZEV program, which had been scheduled to go into effect in 1998.
Although the car could not be purchased outright, its MSRP was quoted at $34,000. Joe Kennedy, vice president of marketing for Saturn, accepted concerns regarding the vehicle's cost, the outdated lead-acid battery technology, and the EV1's limited range, and said "Let us not forget that technology starts small and grows slowly before technology improves and costs go down." Concerns were also voiced by anti-taxation groups, who alleged that the exemptions and tax credits that EV1 lessees received constituted government-subsidized motoring for affluent professionals. Some of these groups, such as consumer organization Californians Against Utility Company Abuse which mounted opposition to the use of taxpayer dollars to build public EV charging stations, were accused of receiving their funding from and being mouthpieces for the oil industry.
In 1999, the brand manager for the EV1 program, Ken Stewart, described the response of the car's drivers as "wonderfully-manical loyalty." Points in the car's favor included its styling, ride, handling, and performance. The lessees had integrated the EV1 into their lifestyle, making their electric car less a novelty item and more a primary source of transportation. Tom Hanks praised the car on l
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