[Clev]

Originally Posted by aerohead

I went over every scrap of paper I have on the Impact/EV-1 and could find no mention of R&D costs.Neither Ford nor Chrysler published costs for development of their EVs either.----------------- Aerovironment went from a clean sheet of paper,to a running Impact prototype in 18-months.Early estimates were $15,000-$25,000 for the Impact.By 1991,it is reported that GM didn't care what the Impact cost,their task was to meet the California Air Resources Board ZEV mandatory standards,with little regard for profit.Without ZEVs,automakers would be unable to sell ANY new cars in California( 25 % of US market ).------------------------- Calstart was able to develop their "Showcase Electric Vehicle",along with an EV bus and EV small commuter vehicle for $20,000,000.-------------------- Western Washington University produced their Viking-21 electric hybrid for $250,000,and estimated,with limited production,at 1,000 units a year,they could bring them to market at under $30,000 each.-------------------- A gasoline version of the Impact/EV-1 could have been available for the 1993 model year,and marketed as a Buick,Cadillac,Chevrolet,Daihatsu,Geo,Holden,Isuzu ,Lotus,Oldsmobile,Opel,Pontiac,Saab,Saturn ,or Toyota,or Vauxhall,at about $14,000(US).

In the book "The Car That Could", using numbers from the various sources in GM that he interviewed, the author determined that the cost to develop the EV1 was about $1 billion. This included specifically-designed batteries, motor and controller (GM wanted to use off-the-shelf parts, like Siemens motors and Panasonic batteries, but Delco and Delphi strong-armed GM into allowing them to develop and manufacture one-offs), several crash samples, and construction and tooling of an advanced highly automated assembly line. To put this in perspective, Ford spent about $1 billion on the 2003 facelift of the F150.