General Motors Impact
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The General Motors Impact was an electric concept car that eventually was sold to the public under the name EV-1. This car was the first practical all electric car that any large auto maker had produced. It was first shown in the 1990 Los Angeles Auto Show where the GM chairman at the time, Roger Smith, talked about how they were planning a project to see if electric cars would be accepted by the public. Most of the knowledge that went into the design of the Impact came from the Sunraycer. This vehicle was General Motor’s 1987 entry in the World Solar Challenge which it won. There were three companies total in addition to GM that assisted in the design of the concept. The first and most influential was AeroVironment. They developed most of the cars operating system and used a similar electrical system to the Sunraycer. Al Cocconi, who worked for AC Propulsion, developed as well as built the drive controller electronics. These components were later refined by Hugh’s Electronics. The announcement that the concept would be sold to the public was April 18th of 1990. GM believed the car had a promising future because of the public’s strong positive reaction. After General Motors publicized that the Impact (EV-1) would be sold, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) passed an environmental mandate that stated, each of the United State’s biggest car makers had to have a certain percentage of their fleet in California emission free vehicles by certain dates. The timeline of the mandate went as follows: 2% by 1998, 5% by 2001, 10% by 2003. CARB claimed that the reason for the mandate was to try and improve California’s poor air quality which was the worst in the country at the time. If the auto makers did not comply with the mandate they would no longer be allowed to market their vehicles in the state.[1] The mandate quickly caused the top car manufactures such as Nissan and Honda to come up with zero emission (electric) prototypes. The second most popular electric vehicle during the time was the electric Toyota Rav 4. It was a practical small SUV that could be used as a family car, where the two door, two seat EV-1 (Impact) was more of a sports car.[2] There was also a documentary made about the Impact and EV-1 production version. The factual documentary which was called “Who Killed the Electric Car?” showed actual footage of the vehicles when they were being leased and operated by the American public. It talks to the design team and shows footage of when they were recalled due to the lift of the California Air Resources Board mandate.
Specifications
The Impact’s main electrical system used AC power so it could be charged at a home charging station. However, the electrical company had to install the charging station, which was designed and built by AeroVironment, to your house in order to charge the Impact at home. The full charge of the Impact’s batteries would give you a range of 100+ miles of driving. One advantage of electric vehicles is that their motors do not idle which saves a large amount of power.[3] An interesting feature of the Impact was that it had an AC induction motors for each front wheel where most EVs (electric vehicles) have just one. With this system in place the top speed of the Impact was 110 mph. This was the speed that the government limited GM to when making the vehicle. Its horsepower was also 110. When going the top the motors would be turning at 11,900 rpm.[4] The biggest features that made the Impact most efficient were its drag and braking system. The drag coefficient, which was 0.19, was substantially less than even most gasoline vehicles of today. This was a contributing factor of its unheard of range and high top speed. The second main factor in the large range was its unique braking system. When the Impact braked it used the energy that braking caused to recharge the batteries. This helped to replenish the batteries while you were out driving. It was the first affordable electric vehicle that could actually be used in everyday life by the American public.[5]
PrEView
PrEView was a program started by GM in 1994 to get a better grasp on the public’s reaction to an electric vehicle. They built 50 Impacts, which they had to do by hand because they did not have machines that were for this type of vehicle yet. GM then advertised that they would be taking volunteers to use the Impact in their everyday lives for a few weeks to see if the cars preformed well. These volunteers had to have a few requirements that the company stipulated. They had to have a garage and a charging station had to be installed at their house. The supervisor of the project at the time was Sean McNamara. He and others in the program expected the reaction to be small and possibly get a couple hundred volunteers. However, the reaction by the public was explosive. Between New York and Los Angeles alone there was almost 25,000 people who called in until PrEView finally had to close phone lines. The results of the program showed that the public was welcome to the idea of an electric car and the reviews by the volunteers were very good. They explained how the car drove like a normal car. Some even said they would have never known it was electric. It looked like the Impact had a bright future. The biggest car magazines like “Automobile” and “Motor Trend” even had good things to say. During the program the Impact was making a name for itself. In addition to setting a land speed record for electric vehicles, it was being reviewed by everybody. The Impact, as it was called at the time, was doing so well that General Motors was pushing the project along faster than it had ever intended. They already had marketing, dealerships, and leases lined up for the release of the production version (EV-1) to the public.
Public’s Reaction
The public openly accepted the car for what it was. A new and environmentally friendly type of alternative transportation. The car seemed to fit the lifestyle of modern day Americans which other electric cars had failed at. It had a reasonable range and plenty of speed to go on conventional highways. The Impact looked sporty while being practical and environmentally friendly. It appealed to many types of people and seemed like it was going to take a permanent place in the car market. The reviews that potential customers gave through PrEView seemed promising and gave GM reason to believe that everyone would like their new type of vehicle.[6]
GM’s Reaction
General Motors had a much different reaction to the success of the Impact, however. The company openly stated in several press conferences that they were not entirely pleased with having succeeded in making a practical electric car. Although at this point there was no stopping the project. The Impact was perfected, tested, and was starting to be marketed, and let’s not forget the CARB mandate that they had to meet. Everyone in superior ranks of the GM hierarchy seemed to suddenly question the car’s ability to function in normal American life. The VP and even the head of the Energy and Environment branch of the company said that they were expecting the project to fail and that the car market was not ready for an electric vehicle. The company started to argue that the CARB mandate should be postponed or removed all together. The board held its ground though. They did not remove the mandate and this caused GM to have to continue with its project. General Motors became very unhappy with the whole situation and for the entire existence of the car and mandate they fought CARB.[7]
See Also
References
- ^ ”New York Times” Wald, Mathew. [1], April 2, 1995, accessed January 29, 2011.
- ^ ”New York Times” Stevenson, Richard. [2], January 14, 1990, accessed January 31, 2011.
- ^ ”AeroVironment Inc.” AeroVironment Inc. [3], 2000, accessed February 2, 2011.
- ^ ”AeroVironment Inc.” AeroVironment Inc. [4], 2000, accessed February 2, 2011.
- ^ ”AeroVironment Inc.” AeroVironment Inc. [5], 2000, accessed February 2, 2011.
- ^ ”New York Times” Stevenson, Richard. [6], January 14, 1990, accessed January 31, 2011.
- ^ ”New York Times” Wald, Mathew. [7], April 2, 1995, accessed January 29, 2011.