4 ms·

The EV1 gave GM no advantage.

by lallysingh 8mo ago

1970-01-01 8mo ago
It wasn't the first modern EV?
- lallysingh 8mo ago
  GM didn't sell EVs for years after releasing the EV1. They didn't get any market advantage from the EV1 because they left the market after, for a long time.
  - 1970-01-01 8mo ago
    We are in complete agreement here. They wasted their lead.
    - NetMageSCW 8mo ago
      They didn’t have a lead. It’s like saying the DC-X was ahead in propulsive landing over F9, or the LG Prada had a lead over the iPhone. Being first isn’t enough to establish a lead. You also have to be in competition, which means selling product.
      - 1970-01-01 8mo ago
        It is very widely known that GM held a 7 year head start on every other automaker on manufacturing the modern EV. Several other EVs were sold during it's time in low volume.
- silotis 8mo ago
  The EV1 was a regulatory anomaly. The tech wasn't there yet for mass market adoption.
- burnte 8mo ago
  Doesn't matter if it was or wasn't, it was a failure that GM never followed up with. Why it was a failure is also irrelevant, because whether you feel it was a technical failure or killed by GM, GM never did anything with the project or knowledge. Effectively it was a curiosity.
  - 1970-01-01 8mo ago
    If GM killed it to keep it from succeeding, then there is massive precedent to never reuse the tech. In fact, their NiMH battery patents were sold to Texaco/Chevron who held them close and never let anyone use them. From that point, they couldn't follow-up without dumping even more cash into it, effectively burying it. Until new lithium battery tech matured, there was no way to do it again.
    - mrguyorama 8mo ago
      >If GM killed it to keep it from succeeding They didn't, and this is just absurd. Not only were electric cars available since the very beginning of cars, but they've always been available as niche options. There are tens of electric cars that postdate the EV1 and predate the Tesla. Do you even know their names? We have stupidly cheap gas. An electric car has only ever been a curiosity for America. Even now, the primary driver of people buying electric cars is ideological, and a mild convenience of never having to go to a gas station. Pre-lithium battery electric cars are a huge hassle, for very little gain, even outside the US. The history of cars is a global one, and no amount of conspiracy theory about GM can counter the fact that nobody else made electric cars either, even in places with drastically more expensive and unreliable gasoline. They have always been a novelty, like hydrogen and LPG and compressed gas engines. Hybrids were the closest anyone got to making older battery chemistries meaningful for car-style transportation, and even that was extremely limited.
      - nextaccountic 8mo ago
        About compressed gas, they have so much cheaper fuel that they are the norm here in Brazil for Uber drivers. So, not a novelty Brazil also pioneered flex engines that work with either alcohol and gasoline, and gasoline in Brazil is sold with high alcohol content

The EV1 gave GM no advantage.

1970-01-01 8mo ago

It wasn't the first modern EV?

lallysingh 8mo ago
GM didn't sell EVs for years after releasing the EV1. They didn't get any market advantage from the EV1 because they left the market after, for a long time.
- 1970-01-01 8mo ago
  We are in complete agreement here. They wasted their lead.
  - NetMageSCW 8mo ago
    They didn’t have a lead. It’s like saying the DC-X was ahead in propulsive landing over F9, or the LG Prada had a lead over the iPhone. Being first isn’t enough to establish a lead. You also have to be in competition, which means selling product.
    - 1970-01-01 8mo ago
      It is very widely known that GM held a 7 year head start on every other automaker on manufacturing the modern EV. Several other EVs were sold during it's time in low volume.
silotis 8mo ago
The EV1 was a regulatory anomaly. The tech wasn't there yet for mass market adoption.
burnte 8mo ago
Doesn't matter if it was or wasn't, it was a failure that GM never followed up with. Why it was a failure is also irrelevant, because whether you feel it was a technical failure or killed by GM, GM never did anything with the project or knowledge. Effectively it was a curiosity.
- 1970-01-01 8mo ago
  If GM killed it to keep it from succeeding, then there is massive precedent to never reuse the tech. In fact, their NiMH battery patents were sold to Texaco/Chevron who held them close and never let anyone use them. From that point, they couldn't follow-up without dumping even more cash into it, effectively burying it. Until new lithium battery tech matured, there was no way to do it again.
  - mrguyorama 8mo ago
    >If GM killed it to keep it from succeeding They didn't, and this is just absurd. Not only were electric cars available since the very beginning of cars, but they've always been available as niche options. There are tens of electric cars that postdate the EV1 and predate the Tesla. Do you even know their names? We have stupidly cheap gas. An electric car has only ever been a curiosity for America. Even now, the primary driver of people buying electric cars is ideological, and a mild convenience of never having to go to a gas station. Pre-lithium battery electric cars are a huge hassle, for very little gain, even outside the US. The history of cars is a global one, and no amount of conspiracy theory about GM can counter the fact that nobody else made electric cars either, even in places with drastically more expensive and unreliable gasoline. They have always been a novelty, like hydrogen and LPG and compressed gas engines. Hybrids were the closest anyone got to making older battery chemistries meaningful for car-style transportation, and even that was extremely limited.
    - nextaccountic 8mo ago
      About compressed gas, they have so much cheaper fuel that they are the norm here in Brazil for Uber drivers. So, not a novelty Brazil also pioneered flex engines that work with either alcohol and gasoline, and gasoline in Brazil is sold with high alcohol content