The EV1: Pioneer of Electric Vehicles

Called the best electric car of the 20th century

If you were buying a car in 1996, we bought two that year: a Jeep Grand Cherokee and a Ford Taurus wagon; there were plenty of options available. Among them were engine choices. For the Jeep, it was AMC’s trusty 4.0-liter I-6 (185 hp) or 5.2L Chrysler Magnum V8 (225 hp). None of those engines gave great gas mileage, and who cared because it was only about $1.23 to $1.29 a gallon! Hybrids and EVs weren’t even on the radar then until GM unveiled its EV1, the first modern, mass-produced, purpose-built electric vehicle from a major automaker and the subject of this week’s spot.

During that time period, nothing serious by the automakers had been done regarding EVs simply because they would sticker at around 100 grand. But GM had an idea, and the EV1 was born as the first modern mass-produced, purpose-built electric vehicle from a major automaker; not a conversion, not a concept, but a car designed from the ground up to run on electricity. Car and Driver magazine had one for four days. They said their testing has put only 12 miles on the odometer, but already the charge indicator tells us we’ve used up half the power supply. And the range predictor says we have just 20-some miles left in the battery bank. That’s because we’ve driven the EV1 hard-two full-throttle acceleration tests and the standard 30-to-50-mph, 50-to-70, and 5-to-60 runs-and the gauge bases its range estimations on the most recent driving behavior. We reload the EV1 onto the flatbed, and back at our L.A. office, we plug it into a borrowed MagneCharge station. It takes exactly 2 hours and 30 minutes to recharge it fully. They were only able to get 20 miles on a charge. At the end of their four-day test, they concluded, “We can observe that the EV1 has limited appeal right now. It is quiet, it performs well, and it emits no pollution, but the range problems, the recharging time, and the high purchase cost are obstacles that will have to be overlooked or overcome before the EV1 presents a viable alternative to gas-powered cars. Still, it’s a start”.

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.

So GM decided to put the car in the hands of consumers, mostly in Southern California, and for the most part, they liked it. So much so that at the end of the lease, when GM came calling to get its cars back, the lessees protested. GM donated the cars to museums and tech schools. Still, some consumers found a way to hang on to their EV1. According to EV collector Steve Hawkins of the Beata collection, 37 total still exist, with nine of those currently in private hands, though as he noted, owners of the cars still prefer to remain secretive and a tight-knit group. “Just in the last couple of years we discovered another complete original car, but the contacts, trust and relationships to get that information developed over a decade of what we call ‘social engineering,’” Hawkins said. “There is another EV1 we are trying to identify now that will likely take years to verify. Our mission is to help every remaining chassis survive for history and education’s sake.”

General Motors officially recalled the EV1 in 2000 to repair a faulty charge port cable that posed an overheating and fire risk. However, the program was ultimately canceled because GM determined the vehicle was unprofitable, lacked charging infrastructure, and would require costly parts and service support for a limited fleet.

So let’s say you decide you want one. A surviving GM EV1 is valued at over $100,000, with the only publicly and legally sold model fetching a final price of $104,000 (including $ 18,040 in fees) at a court-ordered impound auction. Automotive experts and enthusiasts noted on forums like the Tesla Motors Club that if a fully complete, operational EV1 with a clean title ever hit a major mainstream auction block, it could easily command over $500,000 due to its status as a holy grail of EV history.

As you read this, I’m on my way to EAA’s AirVenture in Oshkosh. For me, it’s about a 90-minute drive north of where I live. This will be the 16th year that I’m volunteering, and I can’t be more excited because our daughter Meg is traveling in from Dallas to be with me for the week. Like me, she’s an aviation geek and gets paid for being one as a Safety Supervisor at DFW (Dallas-Ft. Worth Airport).

For those of you not familiar, the 2026 EAA AirVenture Oshkosh (the 73rd annual fly-in convention) runs from July 20 to July 26, 2026, at Wittman Regional Airport in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. The week-long “World’s Greatest Aviation Celebration” features world-class aerobatic performances, night air shows, historic aircraft, and hands-on workshops. I have a lead on a couple of auto-related items that I’m going to check out.

Thanks for stopping by and checking out my latest find. Feel free to Like, Comment, and share. We love to hear from our readers. Come back next Sunday for another one of my finds along with some of its history, and have a great week.