Henk van de Goor's Bloggers@large

Back in May 2006 I wrote about this documentary that focused on the fact that General Motors killed their line of electric cars (the EV-1), even though people liked them very much. Naturally there was a lot of speculation about the reasons for GM to kill off this line of cars, especially because they were very popular. According to sources "1000+ cars were made and ALL were leased, you could not get one if you wanted one." But GM supposedly said: "We spent a billion dollars on this project and it's time to move on". They just seemed not to be able to make it profitable. As was to be expected they received a lot of critisism for this move, especially because they did not announce that were working on a successor for this car. So, being a sucker for conspiracy theories myself, I also figured GM was pressured by the oil-moguls of this planet to kill off this successful concept (successful that is, from a customers perspective).

So I must say it was a suprise to me when I learned this morning that yesterday at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, General Motors unveiled the EV-1's successor: an electric-motor-driven concept car called the Chevrolet Volt.

So, who knows: maybe this time they will make a profit?

The concept car runs off electricity from the grid, stored on board in a battery, for the first 40 miles of a drive. For longer trips, a small gasoline-powered generator kicks on to recharge the battery pack, allowing a total range of 640 miles. In between trips, the battery can be recharged in six and a half hours at an ordinary wall outlet. For longer trips, the generator can provide power at the equivalent of 50 miles per gallon.

Continue reading "Return of the electric car" »

Now here is a very interesting documentary for you:

It was among the fastest, most efficient production cars ever built. It ran on electricity, produced no emissions and catapulted American technology to the forefront of the automotive industry. The lucky few who drove it never wanted to give it up. So why did General Motors crush its fleet of EV1 electric vehicles in the Arizona desert?

Copyright © 2006 Sony Pictures Classics

Check out the trailers:
Continue reading "Who killed the electric car" »