Ev1 Failure

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EV1, an innovatively engineered attempt to jump-start GM's 21st century, will never again driven by loyal fans. Although some 1,100 of the vehicles were produced since 1996 and leased to drivers in California and Arizona, almost all were destroyed once the leases ran out. For many of the lessees, this was a tragedy. As one owner in an open letter to GM CEO Rick Wagoner,"...the EV1 is more than a car.."

The production car's sleek look and exceptional and aerodynamics are largely credited to Paul Macready, CEO of AeroVironment. It was up to GM chief designer Dennis Little and lead designer Mark Kaski to make the radical aerodynamics work in a street-ready car. "American automakers are criticized for not being innovative,"says Bill Withuhn, a curator at the National Museum of American History (NMAH). "But GM was way out ahead with the EVI, and even through production was limited , a lot of learned by designing. …show more content…
The original version's range was only about 100 miles before the cars had to be plugged in for a recharge. (Battery life was somewhat improved in two later iterations.) "A lot of people failed to understand that the EV1 was a commuter car-not a long-haul California to New York car," notes Withuhn. But many drivers log more than 100 miles a day, and while the EV1's range sufficed for suburban driving, as a two-seater it didn't work for families with kids. And even some admirers of its design faulted the way it drove. "The car was fast," says R J Muna, a photographer who shot many of the EV1's advertising pictures," but the batteries made it heavy, and with a rear axle narrower than the front, the handling felt odd." Perhaps the most telling blow, however, for the all-electric car was the development of gas-electric hybrids such as the Toyota Prius, capable of recharging their batteries while cruising down the
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