The EV1 Lives! (Well, at Least One of Them)

by Sajeev Mehta

August 1st, 2008 8:59 AM

Detroit's engineering mules are often spared from the crusher, reborn to teach engineering students in leading universities across the country. During my (short) stint with Mechanical Engineering, pre-production iterations of GM's famous small block V8s were at my disposal. Whatever. That wasn't shit compared to what's tucked away in a lonely basement of the famous Kettering University in Flint, MI: a GM EV1. It was there as of last May, and it was blockaded by a bunch of crap, so it's not leaving any time soon. It looks like the Posner-approved machine's supposed death has been somewhat exaggerated. And good ideas never die. They just gather dust.

Comments

Join the conversation

4 of 22 comments

Redbarchetta on Aug 01, 2008
Really; how difficult could it be for somebody to make a new EV in this day and age? Come on, we’ve got geeks making rockets and airplanes in their backyards, why not an electric vehicle? Hopping right on that as soon as I get a backyard and a garage. Something I been wondering the last few weeks is why none of the small aircraft manf. like Gulfstream haven't thought to jump into this game. Sure they would have a little learning curve for crash worthiness but not much condiering what they have to do for airframe design. They could probably build a better, lighter, stronger and more durable package to toss the motors and batteries in that they source form someone else. And a dumbed down avionics package would marry well in an all electric car, with the redundancies. Maybe I will see if they want to develop my garage project whenever I get to it.

Like Reply
Pmd1966 (of GM) on Aug 01, 2008

There was a warehouse in Pontiac MI that had a few of the EV-1 cars. They may still be there.

Like Reply
Needforspeed007 on Aug 01, 2008

After reading this, and what others have said. I guess the EV1 never really died, but just moved on and onto new ways to exist.

Like Reply
Sajeev Mehta on Aug 02, 2008
Needforspeed007 : After reading this, and what others have said. I guess the EV1 never really died, but just moved on and onto new ways to exist. Which is probably the way it should be. Not that I wouldn't want to snag one from a research institution, rebuild it with a fresh powertrain/battery pack and sell it on the free market for an insane amount. After the documentary, I expect a working EV1 is worth $100,000 or more. Barret Jackson would kill to get a piece of this action.

Like Reply