So Rick Wagoner, CEO of General Motors, is asked in the June issue of Motor Trend magazine (not online) which decision he most regrets as CEO. His answer is appropriate, what with a certain documentary coming out soon, and it's under the fold.

Rick Wagoner's most-regretted decision:

Axing the EV1 electric-car program and not putting the right resources into hybrids. It didn't affect profitability, but it did affect image.

Gee, if only someone had warned Wagoner that fuel efficiency was going to be an important factor for consumers in the future. If only someone had asked -- begged, even -- to preserve the EV1. Certainly Wagoner wouldn't have ignored a public outcry like that!

What's truly upsetting is that by Wagoner's own admission here, cutting the EV1 didn't affect profitability. If Wagoner is to be believed, GM would have been no worse off today (admittedly, no great shakes there) if they'd kept the EV1 going.

So why cut it? Honda has kept the barely-produced Insight along as a branding exercise. Why wouldn't GM want the same with the EV1, considering the number of lovable celebs who were out hawking it?

People tend to call us paranoid when we suggest that GM killed its own revolutionary design in a gross act of corporate malfeasance -- collusion with oil companies and a fear of obsolescence. It may be just a slip of the tongue, but if Wagoner means what he says, then the conventional explanation -- the EV1 was a money loser -- just became inoperative.

What does that leave?

http://gristmill.grist.org/story/2006/6/28/174247/184

 

I thought it was great logic. People want to buy this car. $$$$$ has been spent developing and installing a charging infrastructure. A new battery is perfect for it, so lets kill it off!!!! Literally.

 

This, though, tends to overlook the problem that the EV-1 was impractical outside of a few areas in the Southwest and West Coast where the weather was mild/warm and dry for most of the year, and ideal for a pure electric car.

That is why the EV-1 was not even leased, much less offered for sale (all EV-1's were leased...plus the power rechargers) outside of CA and AZ. Cold, damp, and dark conditions increase the power draw on the battery tremendously by requiring the use of electrical accessories that are otherwise not in use, threrby sharply reducing the car's crusing range. It was felt by GM management (probably correctly) that the average EV-1 lease customer didn't want to have to constantly recharge the car in cold, wet conditions just to be able to drive a few miles.

And that was also part of the car's problem.....it used obsolete (even for the time) lead-acid batteries instead of the far more advanced lithium-ion batteries that you will see in the upcoming Chevy Volt extended-range gas/electric hybrid.

 

they were only interested in suv's and pickups.

 

Exactly and now they want a bailout.

 

the morons at GM killed the elctric car and forcefully took the electric cars it did sell back from its owners

 

GM purchased a battery factory and had access to better batteries than what was being offered but chose not to use them. The newer batteries were superior to the crappy Delco used.

 

This happened after lessee's begged to keep their EV-1's because they loved them and it fit their everyday commuting needs. GM demanded them back and destroyed them as seen below. Now they are nearly bankrupt in large part for focusing on building gas guzzling beasts. Good one!!

 

Must have been a tough decision, considering the number of bad decisions made.

Marketing the Volt would have been much easier had the EV1 not been scrapped. GM has an uncanny ability of pissing on it's own brand image. First they alienate the environmentally friendly crowd, then they rest the company's future in their hands. Smart.

 

demanded them back???????

no wonder they deserve to fail

 

dude they demanded them back or they would sue them. People protested, it was on the news. It was pretty nast at the time. But in the myopic eyes of the GM heads, the EV1 had the potential to make all of their other vehicles look like polluting, inefficient pieces of crap that they are. 1 vs 100 models. 100 wins and the EV1 was literally crushed out of existence. I saw a show that documented the entire death of the electric car by GM

 

You can't blame GM. Every person leasing an EV-1 was fully aware of the fact that the car could not be purchased at lease end. Customers signed contracts acknowledging that fact. EVERYBODY *knew* the cars could not be purchased under ANY circumstance. So, people that leased an EV-1 did not get screwed. Should they have killed off the car? Who knows, probably not. Remember, it was a long time ago, in a different market than today. I don't think the EV-1 would have been successful for purchase back then. The entire project was experimental, I thought everyone knew that.

 

Go rent "Who Killed the Electric Car", it's a very good documentary that focuses on the EV-1 project and details this whole situation.

Basically, after leasing, people fell in love with the car and owners got together to rally and hopefully change those preconditions. The cars were in perfect condition and ran great at lease end and yet were taken back by GM for destruction (in GM's defense, it was a stupid insurance issue that forced destruction).

Yes, it was experimental, but this experiment was set up to fail no matter what. Supply didn't even meet demand but they say "people didn't want electric cars like this" even though they literally begged for them. How can an "experiment" on electric cars be ended before anything is learned (such as longevity, ect.). The whole thing was just a mess.

 

It's all about the $$$..........GM killed the E car because they were being paid billions under the table by the big oil companies to abolish the project. Now, when the dagger has fallen and gas prices have bottomed out, who is left catching the knife on the way down? You guessed it, GM, Ford and Chyrsler.

 

I watched "Who Killed The Electric Car" it is definitely worth watching. I found it very enlightening to watch IMO this was nothing but organized theft of what was legally yours for the contracted time and you had no legal recourse either which was unfortunate. I had contacted Toyota about purchasing the RAV4 EV back then and I got the letter a while later "Due to lack of interest etc. etc." I later found out that Toyota had one at the West Caldwell NJ facility at that time. I also saw several on a flat bet truck being hauled somewhere north of here very early one morning and saw three being hauled out on the NJ Turnpike also. All of these were white.
I know someone who purchased a used electric GM car to restore and run. They called GM up to ask for information on the car after giving them the serial number they were read back what the car was right down to the color then they were told by GM "This car does not exist at all"