Impact/EV-1:a forensic reconstruction

[aerohead]

Originally Posted by cfg83

aerohead -



Have you read this? :

Amazon.com: The Car That Could: The Inside Story of GM's Revolutionary Electric Vehicle (9780679421054): Michael Shnayerson: Books

I haven't finished it yet, but I have maybe 30 post-its in it right now for quoting. If you want, I will start posting the tidbits in this thread. The book is dirt cheap (when it's used) on flea-bay.

I won't make the claim that it isn't biased, but I think it does have at least one answer for the majority of questions asked on this thread.

CarloSW2

I've heard of it,but not read it.I WILL keep an eye out for it.
Around 1997,one of the car mags did a road test of the EV1.Some 'issues' were mentioned about the car,including inverter fires.
It would be really beneficial to post any additional data as long as you think it would pass peer-review.
One of Ed Beagley ( sp?)Jr.'s things is,'keep to good science.'
GM had 'killed' the EV1 by Jan. 1993.It is said that the inside joke in the auto industry was," Everybody wants there neighbor to buy an electric car."
In 1989,Robert A. Lutz ( who is now with GM ) made the comment," We talk one game,but play another."
In 1992,GM's Oldsmobile would spend $100 million on advertizing.
Thanks for the tip! I'll go bang my head into a wall now.

[cfg83]

aerohead -

I am just going to make a thread that cross-references your thread :

http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...1-a-13246.html

That way, if I end up posting a lot, you can pick and choose what you want to include in the forensic reconstruction.

CarloSW2

[xpedro01]

RobertSmalls; I was not aware of the Insight in 2010. I am now a slave to the machine. This winter during a super cold spell I took a spare bumper, cut it in two lengthwise and vertically to construct a bumper 6 inches shorter and shallower. This was all done in the living room. I am 87 and live alone so I have that freedom. I then used the very friendly plastic, LEXAN to fasten the small bumper to the car, making a 16'' extension. Encouragement came from the short boattail on the GM impact race car. MetroMPG set up an address for the project since I am a newbie.

There are phase 1 photos. Great minds run in the same gutter.

http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...are-28088.html

[Vman455]

Originally Posted by NeilBlanchard

Is it just me, or is the "Impact" (prototype of the EV-1) a much better looking car?


The nose is obviously different, and I detect a deeper contour in the doors and a slightly "hunched" rear fender -- anything else different that you can see? Was the Cd different?

Sorry to drag this up from the dead, but to answer your question: I had the chance to see an EV1 and Impact together at the Lemay Museum in Tacoma just after it opened. The underside of the Impact and rear lower valance are significantly different than what ended up being produced as the EV1, which had a simple flat underside.





Volt VIN 000001 was there, too.



Edit: I just checked their website, and the electric vehicles are still on display.

[sheepdog 44]

Originally Posted by xpedro01

RobertSmalls; I was not aware of the Insight in 2010. I am now a slave to the machine. This winter during a super cold spell I took a spare bumper, cut it in two lengthwise and vertically to construct a bumper 6 inches shorter and shallower. This was all done in the living room. I am 87 and live alone so I have that freedom. I then used the very friendly plastic, LEXAN to fasten the small bumper to the car, making a 16'' extension. Encouragement came from the short boattail on the GM impact race car. MetroMPG set up an address for the project since I am a newbie.

There are phase 1 photos. Great minds run in the same gutter.

http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...are-28088.html

I think he made an aluminum boat tail for his Insight. I never saw it though, and i haven't found any pictures of it. I was told a Boat tailed Insight was at the GGP 2012? I was told it didn't look that great though.

I'm curious what ever happened to that car. After all the stuff he did to it, i think it'd be a hard sell.

[Giovanni LiCalsi]

Originally Posted by aerohead

I've heard of it,but not read it.I WILL keep an eye out for it.
Around 1997,one of the car mags did a road test of the EV1.Some 'issues' were mentioned about the car,including inverter fires.
It would be really beneficial to post any additional data as long as you think it would pass peer-review.
One of Ed Beagley ( sp?)Jr.'s things is,'keep to good science.'
GM had 'killed' the EV1 by Jan. 1993.It is said that the inside joke in the auto industry was," Everybody wants there neighbor to buy an electric car."
In 1989,Robert A. Lutz ( who is now with GM ) made the comment," We talk one game,but play another."
In 1992,GM's Oldsmobile would spend $100 million on advertizing.
Thanks for the tip! I'll go bang my head into a wall now.

The whole ad campaign was sabotaged by Lutz. He approved the apocalyptic commercial that was made in black and white and was eerily narrated by the dwarfish actress Linda Hunt.

GM EV1 TV Commercial 1 - YouTube

GM took billions of dollars from the DOE to build electric vehicles and when they found out that the maintenance-free EV could not sustain their dealers service profits, the plug was pulled.
GM could have continued to lease or sell these cars and would have made it, financially, over the bumpy road.

[Giovanni LiCalsi]

Originally Posted by NeilBlanchard

Is it just me, or is the "Impact" (prototype of the EV-1) a much better looking car?


The nose is obviously different, and I detect a deeper contour in the doors and a slightly "hunched" rear fender -- anything else different that you can see? Was the Cd different?

They would have buyers lined up to buy this car today!
Too bad! Too sad!

[Giovanni LiCalsi]

Originally Posted by Big Dave

The EV1 was a nicely designed car but it was poisoned by its 1880s-tech batteries. How good would it have been with a little diesel?

The later generation EV1s were fitted with nickel-metal-hydride batteries and had a 150 mile charge, taking less than 3 hours to charge.
Dr. Ovshinsky's EV-1 was capable of over 300 miles per charge.
His battery patent was purchased by GM around one week after Dr. Ovshinsky announced to the news media the range at a national EV race.
It was all downhill for the EV-1 after that.

[kach22i]

This car was briefly discussed in the film "Revenge of the Electric Car", it also had a short clip with Thomas Friedman in it.

Revenge of the Electric Car (2011) - IMDb

[NeilBlanchard]

If I had to guess, the GM Impact was the car that has the Cd of 0.19 and the EV1 was 0.20. The rear wheel strakes look to be significantly better.

They could have just changed the name to EV1 and kept the design of the Impact, and they would have had a runaway hit.

And the later EV1's had NiMH batteries that had about 150 mile range. It was too good, and they squashed them ...