Who’d Buy The Electric Car?

Editor

Big-shot automotive journalist John McElroy is calling for the revival of GM’s EV1 with a decently well-reasoned argument. It’s true, bringing back the EV1 would seem like the ultimate no-brainer. In 1996, when the little plug-in electric was introduced, gas was around a dollar a gallon—now it’s four. And even before it got that bad, tons of people who saw Who Killed The Electric Car? swore they’d own one of those little jelly beans in a second. So what’s the problem? Well, there was so much cloak-and-dagger surrounding the conception, marketing, and eventual failure of the EV1, that to bring it back now as if nothing had happened would constitute a major loss of face for GM. I asked GM’s Dave Barthmuss about it when he was in town recently: assuming that the parts needed to assemble new EV1’s haven’t been destroyed (they haven’t), could GM perhaps build a limited run of the vehicles, at the very least as a stop-gap measure to satisfy demand until the Volt is ready to go? I was shushed before the proposition was even out of my mouth, as if Dave had heard it a million times. GM’s position on the matter is that the EV1 would never meet modern safety standards (which is probably true), that battery technology has come so far since ‘96 that the car would basically require an entirely new powerplant, that it would cost them more to make than they could sell it for, and that no one would really buy it, even if they say they would. Are they really just worried that an EV1 revival would steal the Volt’s thunder? Would problems with the EV1 sour the public on the Volt before its debut? Would you buy one?

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Posted at 6:26 pm in Chevrolet, Chevy, EV, EV1, GM, Green, Jen Dunnaway

Comments

Evan
Aug 26, 2008 at 5:38 pm

I would buy one strictly for commuting and zooming around the community but, I’d still have my Gas Fired monster for all the fun things in life..

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I just can’t believe that they can’t slap some modern technology into an EV1 and sell it to the masses. I’m sure all the tools are there but, they just don’t want to release it.

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I can’t believe I’m saying this but, GM seems to be behind the 8 ball on a lot of things, the late release of the Camaro, the late release of a decent hybrid car, late late late. One of these days they’ll show up late to the show and nobody will be there…

Good luck in the future GM!

Dhillaz
Jul 16, 2008 at 12:17 am

No: it’s too old.
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Battery technology and car effeciency has come a long way over the past few years, especially with Toyota’s work on the Prius and RX400h. To use such an old design would be wasteful, and the consumer would have minimal driving range, and wouldn’t save anywhere near as much money as they would if they bought a Volt.

Anonymous
Jul 9, 2008 at 4:17 am

It is outdated, it is outdated. why lie? it is proven anyway. a 3 main boxer that has been around for 106 years on the other hand…could have would have and is saving billions of gallons. I know how to make an auto maker turn red…it’s called facts. they are indeed in the past, it is a matter of finding them, while “they” forget them. I am driving just one of 1 million to this very day…tougher than all their standards aren’t even matching. It is ridiculous, so ridiculous I get bad dreams that hateful vengance can erupt…and I am not even apocolyptic. “How much bs can real people endure mr.gm, when we’ve got the goddamn facts?”

GTwildfire
Jul 9, 2008 at 1:01 am

“that noone would buy it that said they would”?
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Oh that’s such bullshit, especially now.
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Guaranteed it would be the opposite. If electric cars hit the streets, I don’t doubt for a second that once owning one is a reality for the average consumer and owners start sharing their experience with friends… more than a few who initially dismiss owning an EV WILL change their minds.
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With gas sucking up $600 a month or more of my budget per month, an EV would DEFINITELY pay for itself. Many others are in the same boat, and an EV would not only be hard to resist… it would be inevitable, regardless of IC/EV preferences.

Captain Bacon
Jul 8, 2008 at 8:59 pm

I would not buy one. I’ll take a vehicle propelled by musical explosions any day.