Automotive Engineering - March 2021 - 4

EDITORIAL

NY, NJ, OH:
Ryan Beckman
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rbeckman@techbriefs.com

Bill Visnic
Editorial Director
Bill.Visnic@sae.org

The legacy of the pioneering, controversial EV-1
to find extra capacity to meet profitable
Recently I was reminded of an annivertruck demand during the four years EV-1
sary: 30 years ago, GM chairman Roger
was in low-volume production.
Smith announced his company's comEV-1 genealogy began with
mitment to build the pioneering and
Sunraycer, GM's winning entry in the
controversial EV-1 electric vehicle (EV).
trans-Australia 1987 World Solar
Two media colleagues preparing arChallenge. Learnings gained from the
ticles about the landmark called me for
sleek solar-electric machine influenced
comments on EV-1's place in history.
Impact/EV-1 in key areas, notably aeroIt seemed like 1996 (the year EV-1
dynamics. EV-1 boasted a super-slick
entered production) all over again. The
0.19 Cd and 3.95 ft² CdA. It may have
anniversary of the first mass-produced,
been the first vehicle
purpose-designed EV
to feature a power
of the modern era
inverter with insulatroughly coincided
ed-gate bipolar tranwith GM's commitsistors (IGBT) that
ment to an all-EV
were later adopted
light-vehicle portfolio
by Toyota for its Prius
by 2035. But that
hybrid power control.
much-heralded news
GM's 1990 Impact experimental EV,
EV-1 used one-way
was not without critprogenitor of the EV-1.
thermal glass to optiics. Some of the coverage carried brickbat quotes from Dan Becker, longtime
auto-industry heckler from the Sierra
Club, now with a group called Center
for Biological Diversity.
Some things never change. Becker,
an attorney, has a made a career out of
dumping on GM in particular. This time
it was on potential carbon offsets. " Blue
smoke and mirrors, " he called the 2035
announcement. If GM planted a billion
trees and brewed free beer as a bonus,
Becker might call it a conspiracy against
soil and hops.
I wrote a lot about the groundbreaking EV-1 in the '90s and drove prototypes prior to its launch. I also reported
on its predecessor, Impact, the experimental EV that debuted in 1990.
Impact's potential as a " real car " and
the fanfare it generated helped influence the California Air Resources Board
(CARB) to levy its controversial 'ZEV
mandate' that forced sale of zero-emission vehicles in the Golden State.
This was during an era when moderate fuel prices and a robust Clinton
Administration economy had helped
spark the SUV Boom. Suppliers of drive
axles and transfer cases were scrambling
4 March 2021

mize heat rejection
on sunny days. Its electric power steering, time-programmable HVAC system
and inductive charging are among dozens of technical innovations now finding their way into production.
The EV-1 program showed how to do
a " real-car " EV, the battery and market
limitations notwithstanding. But to the
dismay of the nascent EV faithful, only
1,117 units were built. Most died in the
crusher after GM ended the customer
leases and collected the cars. The world
was not ready, in my view, for EVs at
money-losing volumes. And certainly
not vehicles offering, under ideal conditions, no more than 140 miles (225 km)
of driving range.
EV-1 represents a milestone in vehicle
development. Much like Frank Whittle's
gas turbine, it is a progenitor for every
electrified vehicle in use today and those
to follow. Program leader Ken Baker and
his team set the stage for today's EV
ecosystem. EV-1's legacy, as I told the
reporters, is a vast book of EV knowledge and a deep bench of engineers
who are enabling that 2035 plan to forego internal combustion.
Lindsay Brooke, Editor-in-Chief

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Automotive Engineering - March 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Automotive Engineering - March 2021