General Motors’ Miraculously Surviving Electric Car Found in A Parking Lot — May Be the Last EV1 in The World – Design You Trust — Design Daily Since 2007

General Motors’ Miraculously Surviving Electric Car Found in A Parking Lot — May Be the Last EV1 in The World

1
Twitter

In one of Atlanta’s usual multi-level parking lots, an EV1, developed by General Motors in the late 1990s, was found in 2019. The entire run was later recalled and put under the press, but one car miraculously survived.

The General Motors EV1 was an electric car produced and leased by General Motors 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 EV1 was made available through limited lease-only agreements, initially to residents of the cities of Los Angeles, California, and Phoenix and Tucson, Arizona.

h/t: twitter, wikipedia

2
Twitter

While customer reaction to the EV1 was positive, GM believed that electric cars occupied an unprofitable niche of the automobile market, and ended up crushing most of the cars, regardless of protesting customers.

Furthermore, an alliance of the major automakers litigated 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 taken back by the company, under the terms of the lease. Lessees were not given the option to purchase their cars from GM, which cited parts, service, and liability regulations.

The majority of the EV1s taken back were crushed, with about 40 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 only intact EV1 was donated to the Smithsonian Institution. General Motors also allegedly gave models to research institutions with EV1s being found in the wild near universities often in states of disrepair.

3
Twitter

The EV1’s discontinuation remains controversial, with electric car enthusiasts, environmental interest groups and former EV1 lessees accusing GM of self-sabotaging its electric car program to avoid potential losses in spare parts sales (sales forced by government regulations), while also blaming the oil industry for conspiring to keep electric cars off the road. During the discontinuation movie director Francis Ford Coppola hid his EV1 from General Motors and was ultimately able to keep his EV1. As a result of GM taking the cars back as the leases ended and the subsequent destruction of the majority of EV1s, an intact and working EV1 is one of the rarest cars from the 1990s.

If you want more awesome content, subscribe to 'Design You Trust Facebook page. You won't be disappointed.

More Inspiring Stories

Everyday Things That Look Totally Different Under A Microscope

Intimate Photos Of Sharon Tate Gives Her Husband Roman Polanski A Haircut In 1968

Fabulous Portrait Photos of Celebrities Taken by Patrick Lichfield

Stunning Photographs From The Inside Of Russia’s Largest Bitcoin Mine

This Grandpa’s Amazing 280 Square Meter Model Railway Is Worth $357K

Wonderful Sunny Pics Document A Spring Break In United States In The 1980s

Vintage Photos Show Men’s Fashion Styles in the 1980s

1936 Stout Scarab: The World's First Minivan?

Urban Explorer Makes Fantastic Photos of The Abandoned Radio Station to Seek For Traces of Extra-Terrestrial Civilizations

Clever Minibikes Built Out of Welded Fenders From Vintage Volkswagen Beetles

Stunning Photos of David Bowie Working on Desktop Computer in Office, 1994

"Women of The Future" According to The French Artist Albert Bergeret, 1902

Dressed Cats: Postcards From The 1950's By Artist Eugen Hartung Published By Alfred Mainzer, Inc.

Concepts From Future Past: Alfa Romeo Carabo, 1968

Amazing dynamic projects by Aaron Koblin

Sigvard Berggren's 'Future': A Unique Blend of Art and Engineering in the Form of a Fast-Moving Car

Something’s Going On: Mary Lou Fulton’s Newly Rediscovered Photographs Of Punks, Mods, And Rockabillies From The 1980s

This 3D Printed Coffee Table Shows Art As Seen Under The Microscope

Splendid Vintage Snaps Of Young Girls With Very Big Hair In The 1980s

1980s Teenagers And Their Bedroom Walls

An Incredible Jet Engine Barbeque Grill Built By Delta Airlines Techs Using Scrapped Pratt & Whitney Parts

This Mind-Blowing Audi Truck Could Be The Future Of Big Rigs

Discovering the Beauty of Wild Collaging with Artist Francesca Lawrence

Emotional Nostalgic Photos of Soviet Children that Have Become Iconic

The Story Behind the Photographs of Stevie Nicks With Veils on the Roof of Her House in Venice Beach, 1981

See Inside a 1926 Rolls-Royce Phantom, the Most Expensive Rolls-Royce Ever Made

This Russian Flying Kamikaze Tesla Car Is Real And Waiting For The Passengers

Meet Nikita Replyanski, An Artificial Limbs And Wearable Technology Designer

A Visual Journey Through the History of the Bond Bug: The Three-Wheeled Microcar that Looks Like a Giant Orange Wedge

Richard Branson and US Officials Dedicate Space Terminal