bye bye ev1 - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

83-240D · #1 03-15-2005, 09:42 AM

saw this in the paper just now.

gm in calif. has had the 28 ev1 cars removed from their property to be crushed. they cite "a small but passionate following that was not large enough to warrent full production".

among the protestors at the cite was babe watch actress alexandra paul.

Dana B. · #2 03-15-2005, 09:51 AM

Yup. Wrote the original story for the Los Angeles Daily News, later picked up by the Washington Post and Los Angeles Times. The GM site is about a mile from my apartment.

RIP EV1.

My MB and TDI have longer legs.

83-240D · #3 03-15-2005, 11:32 AM

my 4 paragraph story came form local or wire services. was yours deeper than 4 paragraphs?

Hatterasguy · #4 03-15-2005, 11:38 AM

Ahh the poor little car no one cares about, oh wait 28 people did...

It was a neat experiment, to bad that nice clean juice comes from dirty coal burning power plants. When the fuel cell becomes cheap to make electric cars will become practical.

83-240D · #5 03-15-2005, 12:41 PM

Plot Summary for
Americathon (1979)
In the not too distant future, the United States government is virtually bankrupt and in danger of being foreclosed on by a group of Native Americans, now owners of the massive Nike Corporation. A desperate President decides to make a last-ditch effort to save the country... by raising money with a telethon!

john ritter as fdr the third who ran on the platform of.....'have a nice day".
chief dan george leads a nativce american group about to forclose on the bankrupt usa.

everyone walks, bikes or skateboards to work. meatloaf does battle with a car.

rg2098 · #6 03-16-2005, 12:02 PM

Neat little cars, my uncle worked on the program for awhile and I had to chance to catch a ride in a few.

diametricalbenz · #7 03-16-2005, 01:46 PM

One last celebrity hurrah for the EV1.......

http://entertainment.msn.com/tv/article.aspx?news=184831

boneheaddoctor · #8 03-16-2005, 01:50 PM

Blame the lawyers for this one.............they have to crush them so they don't get sued becasue they can't supply parts or support for them.............

dougmcp · #9 03-16-2005, 03:08 PM

The car was a great idea to satisfy the politicians' desire for ZEV's. Outside of the fact that they would only go 80-90 miles before needing an 8 hour recharge, the polution factor was just shifted to another area, electricity production. The NiMH battery packs for these cars cost over $50K to replace. Ford wants to crush all their electrics as well.

rurik · #10 03-17-2005, 10:29 PM

You think EV1 had too short a range?

The other night I'm pulling into a Randall's parking lot, and notice a Chevy Metro with "Zero Emission Vehicle" written in big letters on the side. I got curious and stopped to take a closer look. While I was looking, the owner came back, and we chatted a bit. Basically, he took out the gas engine, and dropped an electrical engine in, kept the original tranny. There's a big battery sitting in the back. The owner said that the engine is about 50HP and the range is about 30mi

... Which he says is enough for him to get to work and back, and that's all he wants from that car. A more expensive battery would be needed to get better range, and he doesn't want to pony up cash for that. That car is the second Metro he converted to electric. So some people want electric cars in a bad way, what can I say.

Here is Austin, the local utility got a pretty cool "green energy" program. They buy most of the power for this program from several wind farms in west Texas. I'm on that program, and it's been remarkably competitive in terms of electricity cost for the past 3 years (thanks to tax breaks, for sure). I guess someone powering an electric car charged by electricity from a wind farm would be able to honestly claim ZEV status. Cool concept, if you ask me, even though the execution in this particular case is a bit lacking.

Hatterasguy · #11 03-17-2005, 10:39 PM

The problem with electric cars is the battery's are sent to a third world country when they die. Where kids making a few cents a day take the lids off, dump the acid into a river and take the lead out. The plastic is thrown into a big pit because the lead is the only thing of value. I view electric cars as feel good cars, I think a good case could be made that a propane or natural gas powered car would be better.

rurik · #12 03-17-2005, 11:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hatterasguy

The problem with electric cars is the battery's are sent to a third world country when they die. Where kids making a few cents a day take the lids off, dump the acid into a river and take the lead out. The plastic is thrown into a big pit because the lead is the only thing of value. I view electric cars as feel good cars, I think a good case could be made that a propane or natural gas powered car would be better.

Those are not really problems with electric cars per se. None of the hybrid cars made today use lead-acid batteries, those are too heavy and don't hold enough juice. NiMH is today's hybrid battery of choice (was used in EV1 as well, I believe). If such a battery indeed runs for 80,000 miles, i.e. the length of manufacturer's warranty, it's more than just a feel good thing. In any case, battery recycling is not exactly a characteristic of a car. If you feel bad about the way "They" would go about recycling, you can always ship your battery yourself to the recycler of choice, where it will be given king's burial or whatever -- unless you lease the car, the battery is yours after all.

Propane-powered cars have been around for a while. I see quite a few Civic HXs on the road, but they aren't really growing in popularity in US. In Europe, I've seen methane-powered cars _and_ trucks (natural gas is really a crappy gas substitute -- low energy content and high chance of blowing up in a collision, but it's quite cheap, so many people go for it). I've even heard (haven't seen it myself though) of a local Edison who managed to convert his diesel truck to run on a "dual-tank" fuel setup -- normal diesel fuel delivery plus methane injected at the same time. Allegedly works great and saves owner $$$ on diesel fuel. Real environmental zealots (e.g Sierra Club leadership) won't go for anything less than ZEV though.

djugurba · #13 03-18-2005, 01:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hatterasguy

I view electric cars as feel good cars, I think a good case could be made that a propane or natural gas powered car would be better.

none are 'feel good cars' when involved in an accident... ka blouie!

But you are right on- the wastes from the emissions free vehicles are just put elsewhere. The vehicles cease to be point source polluters, rather passing the buck to either a battery plant or a landfill or a newly toxic pull-a-part lot.

What happened to those guys who 'invented' cold fusion in the late 80s? Man, that had promise. I even tried to put together one of their Mason Jar reactors. Ha ha..

#14 03-18-2005, 10:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by boneheaddoctor

Blame the lawyers for this one.............they have to crush them so they don't get sued becasue they can't supply parts or support for them.............

That's just more of Garbage Motors excusing their latest proof of just how badly they need to die.

Ford was going to do the same thing with the EV ranger trucks. The owners wanted to keep them, and Ford let them sign waivers that there would be no parts support, and let the owners buy the trucks. GM, had there been any intelligent people in that company, should have done the same thing.

GM deliberately designed the EV1 program to fail, by only offering it in two states. Had they offered it across the country, they would have had far more buyers.

Of course, this is from a company bragging on how they are going to spend another billion dollars this year expanding SUV production, at the same time gas will be headed towards the $3 mark.

boneheaddoctor · #15 03-18-2005, 10:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Diesel Power

That's just more of Garbage Motors excusing their latest proof of just how badly they need to die.

Ford was going to do the same thing with the EV ranger trucks. The owners wanted to keep them, and Ford let them sign waivers that there would be no parts support, and let the owners buy the trucks. GM, had there been any intelligent people in that company, should have done the same thing.

GM deliberately designed the EV1 program to fail, by only offering it in two states. Had they offered it across the country, they would have had far more buyers.

Of course, this is from a company bragging on how they are going to spend another billion dollars this year expanding SUV production, at the same time gas will be headed towards the $3 mark.

What other state was that outside Californina..I know there were availible here in Virginia Through the Saturn Dealers....I know for a fact they were availible through Saturn of Alexandria, VA I saw them on the floor and on the lot when I was getting my car serviced.

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