The tragic hero of the electric car narrative, GM's EV1 seemingly had it all: finely tuned engineering, the best battery technology and backing from the biggest car company in the world. Produced by GM in response to California's 1990 zero-emissions vehicle mandate, the EV1 is widely considered to be the best electric vehicle to ever make it into production. But the car itself was wildly expensive to build and the battery only functioned well in warm weather, finally prompting GM to end the EV1 in 2003, bitterly disappointing its legions ok, large circle of fans. How great was the ardor of EV1 devotees? In 2006 the model resurfaced again as an untimely murder victim in the documentary Who Killed the Electric Car? not something you'll likely ever see with the Vanguard-Sebring CitiCar.
The History of the Electric Car
Since the advent of the automobile, car makers have struggled to build mainstream electric vehicles. Here are their best and worst attempts