History CHEVY ELECTRIC CAR of the 80's that was KILLED by the Oil industry? Anyone got info?

Sorry for the WAY off topic thread fella's. But I figured ya'll know some things about this car I need to know.

The rumor is: In the 80's.. maybe even 70's, Chevy built a totally electric car that worked.. good! Then, The Oil companies used there muscle and shut it down. I know, sounds like a dumb "Conspiracy" but I sure it's not. Infact I know a guy that was ordered to Destroy a slew of them. They had to document it, video it, take pictures all under GM's watchful eye.

My question is.. Can someone show me a picture of one?

Tell me about them?

and did Chevy save at least ONE for there collection?

Thanks guys,

J Shaw

P.S. I am NOT talking about the EV-1 that was built in the late 90's.




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They also had a steam powered Chevelle in 1968 or 1969. For real, was in an old NCOA magazine in the 80's featuring wierd ideas from Chevrolet.

 

You need to watch a film called " Who killed the electric car"

also look up a guy named "Stan Meyer" =)

 

Funny to ask about electric cars on a forum like this that desires more muscle and more gas.... especially consideringthat one of the "culprits" identified in the movie is the CONSUMER

 

I'll pull this off topic thing out even further...
I believe that back in the days before Henry was making the Model T, there were three main options when it came to powerplants for automobiles. Those being gasoline, steam and battery powered electric cars. Many people (but not Ford) believed that electric cars were the future. They were clean quiet and easier to operate and as such were considered the perfect 'get around town car' and were highly favored by women and 'fancy' men. Ford seemed to know better and was driven to develop a better gasoline engine, which was easy to operate. Thank goodness he had the drive and marketing to make it work!!

As for the electric car you're talking about, I don't have a clue but since it isn't very far in the past, there should be plenty of people that know about it. I'm sure someone on here has something more on it.

Scott

 

all caps = conspiracy theorist BS

 

everyone should take a look at (who killed the electric car) interesting show, alot of politics and corperate greed but very interesting. the ev1 was the electric car gm put out in the 90's only had 90 mile range at first but improved with better batteries that were developed and then the patend was bought by a oil company, now why would they buy the patend? verry ineresting.
any way take a look.

 

I like hot rods....

 

oh yah here's a pic

 

Too bad they crushed them all. It would have been cool to put a supercharged V8 in it.

The problem any electric car has is batteries. When they can come up with magic Sci-Fi batteries we're all set.

 

The Oil Co. ?. Good Question, as stated earlier about the three types of power used in the begining Gasoline became the easiest to maintain as far as ease to operate, maintain, and reliablety. It still stands today. The cost to buy an electric and the maintance is still a big factor. Just yesterday I heard that Tesla would do a 50 state warranty if you agreed to buy the warranty so a tech could fly out and repair it for you, $$$$$. So I have to say its we the people that have killed it, because we still continue to buy Gasoline and will continue because of cost factors. Now with that said, I'm no "green freak" or trying to push electric. It's just a true and well known fact.

 

who the fuck really cares? would you drive one? I wouldnt.

 

I know where at least one EV1 is. Its in Houghton MI on MTU's storage land previously called Lot R. was still there 6 months ago at least

 

I'm at work right now as i read this (GM Proving Grounds/ show car division) surounded by Chevy Volts and the way cooler looking Opel Ampera (same car essentialy). so i turn around and ask the two old timers behind me, one has been doing show cars his entire career. he says he remembers it and even worked on it but it was an Oldsmobile. said it had 4 electric motors (one for each wheel) and it worked! he did'nt say much about it other than they shelved it.... ya got me curious thought Josh. good luck in your quest.

 

P.S. Henry Ford's old lady had an Edison Electric car that she very much preffered over anything Henry was building. i read that she would'nt drive anything else.

 

Interesting, did they do it on there own ?, or forced as this thread suggests.

 

Timeline from the following link, kind of interesting

http://www.eaaev.org/Flyers/eaaflyer-evhistory.pdf

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1834: Thomas Davenport invents the battery electric car – batteries were not rechargeable.
1859: Gaston Plante invented rechargeable lead-acid batteries.
1889: Thomas Edison built an EV using nickel-alkaline batteries.
1895: First auto race in America, won by an EV.
1896: First car dealer – EVs.
1897: First vehicle with power steering – an EV. Electric self-starters 20 years before
appearing in gas-powered cars.
1898: NYC blizzard, only EVs were capable of transport on the roads. First woman to buy a
car – it was an EV.
1900: NYC’s huge pollution problem – horses. 2.5 million pounds of manure, 60,000 gallons
of urine daily on the streets; 15,000 dead horses removed from the streets each year.
1900: All cars produced: 33% steam cars, 33% EV, and 33% gasoline cars.
1903: First speeding ticket – it was earned in an EV.
1904: America has only 7% of the 2 million miles of roads better than dirt – only 141 miles,
or less than one mile in 10,000 was “paved”.
1908: Henry Ford buys his wife an EV. Many socialites of that time gave this rousing
endorsement for EVs, “It never fails me.”
1910: Motorized assembly produces gas-powered cars in volume; reducing cost per vehicle.
1912: 38,842 EVs on the road. Horse drawn “tankers” deliver gasoline to gas stations.
1913: Self starter for gas cars (10 years later for the Model-T).
1921: Federal Highway Act. By 1922, federal match (50%) for highway construction and
repair (for mail delivery). Before this, roads were considered only “feeders” to railroads, and
left to the local jurisdiction to fund.
1956: National System of Interstate and Defense Highways. Funded 90% by states, and 90%
by the federal government.
1957: Sputnik is launched. The US space program initiates advanced battery R&D.
1966: Gallup poll: 36 million really interested in EVs. At the time EVs had a top speed of 40
mph, and typical range less than 50 miles.
1967: Walter Laski founds the Electric Auto Association.
1968-1978: Congress passes more regulatory statues than ever before due to health risks
associated with cars: collisions, dirty air.
1972: First Annual EAA EV rally.
1974: CitiCar debut at Electric Vehicle Symposium in Washington, DC. By 1975, Vanguard-Sebring, maker of the CitiCar is the 6
th largest auto maker in the US.​

1990: California establishes the Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) Mandate; requires 2% of

vehicles to be ZEVs by 1998, 10% ZEVs by 2003.
1990: GM shows their production EV initially named, Impact; later it was re-named the EV-1.
1990: US government spent $194 million on all energy efficient research. Much less than the
$1 billion for a single day of Desert Storm, or the $1 billion per week of 2003 Iraq conflict.
1993: GM estimated that it would take 3 months to collect names of 5,000 people interested
in the EV-1 – it only took one week!
1995: Renaissance Cars, Inc begins production of the Tropica.
1996: EAA helps to hatch CALSTART incubator (for EV research) in Alameda, CA.
1996: GM begins production of the EV-1 (formerly called the Impact).
1997: Toyota Prius hybrid gas-electric vehicle unveiled at the Tokyo Auto Show.
2002: Toyota RAV4-EV retail sales; their estimated 2-year supply sold out in 8 months.
2003: ZEV Mandate weakened to allow ZEV credits for non-ZEVs. Only requires 250 fuel-cell
vehicles by 2009. Toyota stops production of the RAV4-EV; Honda stops lease renewals of
the EV-Plus; GM does the same for the EV-1.
2003: AC Propulsion’s tZero earns highest grade at the Michelin Challenge Bibendum; tZero
specs: 300 miles per charge, 0-60mph in 3.6 seconds, 100 mph top speed.
2005: Commuter Cars’ Tango – shipping this fall!​

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2010: Proof that greenies are mouth-breathing retards ^

I'm pretty sure every electric motor is a self-starter.

 

Not necessarily. you can't turn your ignition on, pump the gas expecting your engine to start. You need your starter to get it going before it will run on it's own. I'm sure electric motors at the time were so inefficent that they needed a little assistance to get them started.

 

he didn't say and probably wasn't privy to that information.

 

Josh, are you talking about the original Saturn project? Fromt eh 80s? Prob not, I think it was all gas.

 

Easy guys this thread is bording a shut down! Lets not forget that the EV is in the history of automobile. They are part of the evalution that got us the cars we love to Hot Rod, Customize, Lower, ect. ect.

 

This is what interesting means to me. It reminds me of the story of the Flying Wing. The project got shut down because the gov. said it wouldn't work and they destroyed Jack. Big lie, they made the world to think it was no good and other nations would not try there hand at it. So my point is, is GM onto something thats ahead of its time, and got shut down only to have the gov. lil fingers in it as good guys today on the topic. Or did GM shut it down to protect there research.

 

Not sure about earlier electric as your original question asks.......but......was still there in the EV-1 days........simple answer.........GM had to compensate each buyer with a "rebate" of $10,000 to purchase one........many were leased to customers directly from GM......not from a dealer or GMAC.......they were done 100% for positive PR........period.......as part of a California initiative.......period........when they got some age on them there began to be many issues........as there are/will be in all electics (just research Prius "thermal events") .......they are never actually fires........GM being the conservative company they were/are, simply decided to cut losses and minimize future contingent liabilities and bought all cars back and destroyed.......purely a legal/good business decision......period.

 

The electric motor has been a reliable very trouble free machine for maybe 100 years. It is a wonderful motor for automobiles. It has one moving part and 2 bearings. The only problem is the battery. You cant run an battery powered car 300 mi. pull into a charging station and within 5 minutes, get in and drive another 300 mi. plus go over a mountain range. The battery is the main thing thats holding back the electric car. Until they make a battery do what a full tank of gas in a internal combustion powered automobile can do we wont be seeing any electric cars taking over.Its that simple, at least i havnt seen or heard about that battery. There are thousands of diesel electric locomotives that have shown the reliabilty of electric power for over 70 years.
However there is on type of fuel we can use for our hot rods, and can be installed right now. A lot of us have it piped right into our homes, natural gas! Cleaner, cheaper readily available. I would change over in a minute if they priced us away from gasoline.

 

I can tell you that GM Holden still has an EV-1 at the Lang Lang proving ground in Australia.
just between us guys....dont let on that we've still got it but!!

 

Pardon?

You're comparing apples to turnips.

An electric motor makes 100% of it's torque on startup, it doesn't -need- a starter.

You're saying an electric motor needs a starter motor to get it going? Give your head a shake.

 

Did you stop to think for a moment that it could be a self starting motor for the steering that is activated by the moving of the steering wheel much like in hydraulic steering assist.

 

kustombuilder thanks for sharing the information about the car. Hopefully the old timers you work with at GM will share some more information. As for everyone getting fired up about a thread on a electric car on the H.A.M.B. remeber what Lil John Buttera once said

"Don't take all this car shit so seriously, it's just an alternative to walking."

 

Neat thread.