[bwilson4web]

http://www.designnews.com/author.asp...&doc_id=234251

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For those who don't remember it well, here's a short primer on the EV1. Introduced by General Motors (GM) in 1996, the EV1 was a two-seat electric coupe that was designed from the ground up with the best technologies available at the time. It was one of the first vehicles to use an aluminum spaceframe, which made it about 40 percent lighter than steel.

Engineers then joined the frame with aerospace-grade structural adhesives, thereby eliminating many of the welds. They also made body panels from composites -- again, to cut weight -- and added a lightweight suspension with help from Lotus Engineering. Moreover, the vehicle had the most advanced power electronics available at the time, and GM engineers spent thousands of hours matching the EV1's AC induction motors to the vehicle.

Materials weren't the only way of boosting the EV1's energy efficiency, however. Design engineers used low-rolling-resistance tires and sculpted the body down to drag coefficient of 0.195, which is still considered by Wikipedia to be the lowest in the history of production cars. By comparison, the Chevy Volt reportedly has a Cd of 0.28 and the Nissan Leaf, 0.29. Both of those figures are better than the auto industry's average of 0.35 to 0.45, but still far short of the EV1's.

The result was that a modified EV1 captured an electric vehicle speed record in 1997, hitting 183mph.
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I knew the EV1 was popular with the 'owners' but I never really studied the technology. Now it makes sense.

Bob Wilson