December 4 1996: Saturn Delivers GM EV1 Electric Car (Visit this link) new
Darryl Siry from Wireed: The GM EV1 was an electric vehicle that was a technical triumph for the time. It generated passion-fueled controversy that still reverberates today. The technological innovations of the EV1 went well beyond the battery pack, inverter and AC induction motor that propelled the car without using any gasoline. The lead-acid battery pack could store only 17 kilowatt-hours for the first generation, roughly equivalent to half a gallon of gasoline. As a result, GM engineers had to do everything they could to reduce the weight and aerodynamic drag of the car to achieve a workable range. To make the car as aerodynamic as possible, they adopted a teardrop shape with covered rear wheel wells. That resulted in an unprecedented coefficient of drag of only .19, which was about half that of most cars at the time. As a result the car was unfortunately about half as comely as other cars too. To reduce weight, the EV1 engineers used an aluminum chassis and plastic body panels. They also designed the car as a two-seater, which was known to be a limiting factor in the marketplace but was considered a necessary tradeoff. Efforts to reduce weight extended to the little bits in the car, including the use of magnesium in the seat frames.
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