The General Motors (GM) EV1 is a high-performance zero-emission vehicle powered purely by electricity. Launched in 1997, the EV1 can travel from 70 to 140 miles at speeds reaching 80 MPH on a single charge. Despite creating an excellent vehicle, GM deliberately failed to promote it and has misrepresented the market response to regulators and the press in its battle against the California Air Resources Board's clean-car regulations.
Despite hundreds of enthusiastic drivers who now lease the car and hundreds more waiting to pay to drive the EV1 (of which approximately 1150 were produced), on February 7, 2002, GM Advanced Technology Vehicles brand manager Ken Stewart notified drivers that GM will remove the cars from the road, contrary to a statement two months earlier that GM would not be "taking cars off the road from customers" [4]. Drivers fear these working cars will be destroyed, because GM has crushed other functional electric cars in the past.
On June 28, 2002, GM refused to deposit checks totaling more than $22,000 from 58 drivers wanting to extend their leases. On August 14, 2002, GM announced it would meet California emissions regulations by giving away thousands of golf cart-like vehicles, incapable of driving in regular traffic. Larry Burns, GM vice president of research, development, and planning, stated: "Customers don't want to buy electric vehicles" [3], despite research [5] and petitions that show that consumers do, in fact, want electric cars. Because of GM's duplicity, the Natural Resource Defense Council and Production Electric Vehicle Drivers Coalition have filed to intervene in car dealers' federal suit against the clean-car regulations.
For more information, read our white paper. To speak with a driver or to drive an EV1, contact Ellen Spertus (ev1@spertus.com) or Greg Hanssen (714-350-2228, greg@pevdc.org). Drivers are available in the Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, Sacramento, Phoenix, Tucson, and Atlanta areas.
Last modified: August 21, 2004