The Only GM EV1 Ever Publicly Sold, and Where It's Going Next

Summary

General Motors EV1 VIN #4G5PX2250V0200212 was never supposed to survive. Like most EV1s leased to drivers in the late 1990s, this adorably green electric icon was originally going to be crushed and turned to scrap metal, never to be seen again. Except that’s not what happened. According to the original lessee from ’97, whom I spoke with on the phone, a series of legal twists and turns meant this EV1 was saved from the crusher by GM. Instead, the car ended up forgotten in a tow pound in Atlanta. Earlier this week, VIN #212 became the first EV1 to ever be legally sold to the public. The new owner has big plans. He told me over the phone that he and a team of like-minded individuals have already begun the process to restore this EV1 to its former glory. The EV1 Story In a Nutshell Electric cars are a mainstay of today’s automotive landscape, but back in the 1990s, they were barely a blip on anyone’s radar. The EV1 was the first mass-produced electric car to be offered to the public, but it was only available in Southern states like California and Arizona, as cold weather would’ve zapped the lead-acid battery packs’ range, which was rated at around 90 miles. With just 137 horsepower spinning the single front motor, the EV1 isn’t very impressive by modern standards. But it set the stage for future EVs to come, and brought with it a host of other innovations, like regenerative braking and low rolling-resistance tires. The two-door teardrop design was a huge factor in squeezing the most out of those batteries; the EV1 remains one of the slipperiest cars to ever hit the market, with a drag coefficient of just 0.19. That’s better than any of today’s Lucids or Teslas. As I mentioned earlier, GM never actually sold any EV1s to the public. They were leased, with most of them taken back by the factory and crushed due to slowing demand and high costs, according to a former engineer. According to a nifty tracking page put together by Hemmings, GM saved around 40 examples and donat...