The Car That Could: The Inside Story of GM’s Revolutionary Electric Vehicle
The Car That Could: The Inside Story of GM’s Revolutionary Electric Vehicle
Unprecedented secrecy surrounded the early development of General Motors’s Impact. Shnayerson watched the story unfold from a position of access never granted a reporter before–literally from the inside of the pace-setting GM Impact program. This is the first book to penetrate the silence surrounding GM’s risky and successful decision to become the world’s first mass producer of the electric car.The story of General Motors’ first mass-produced electric car, the EV1 (at first, unfortunately, na
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Aug 31, 2010 8:21 pm |
Review by Mike Thompson for The Car That Could: The Inside Story of GM’s Revolutionary Electric Vehicle
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…Reading this book is all
the more interesting whe you realize how well the Gen II EV1
with improved batteries works. An impressive work by GM and Michael Schnayerson in covering it so well.Unfortunately, the initial Delco/Delphi batteries in the first generation EV1 underdelivered and weren’t very reliable.The Gen II EV1 changed all that once they got decent batteries. The new High-capacity lead-acid battery pack is 55 to 95 miles per charge by GM specification. Some drivers achieve over 100 miles on these daramatically improved lead acid batteries. …Thanks for your time!
m.t.thompson@ieee.org
Aug 31, 2010 9:02 pm |
Review by for The Car That Could: The Inside Story of GM’s Revolutionary Electric Vehicle
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Michael Schnayerson’s chronicle of the building of this car is more important in pre-war 2003 than ever before. The designers, engineers and builders are real heros,producing real solutions when we need them most. Their story should be told everywhere.
I’ve driven the EV1 for the past five years and I’m here to say that it worked. Michael, if you’re out there, consider writing the sequel. The story continues with global consequences…
Aug 31, 2010 9:14 pm |
Review by for The Car That Could: The Inside Story of GM’s Revolutionary Electric Vehicle
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This book was one of the best informational books I’ve ever read. Usually, I’m interested in novels with tons of action, however, I had to do a thesis for school, which ended up being on New Methods of Non-Pollutant Transportation. I assumed that this book, like most informational books would be extremely boring. However, having read it, it seems so much like a novel, with a plot, protagonists, antagonists, etc. It’s very much like a novel. I’ve never read anything like this before, and I would recommend it to anyone who wants to read a great success story.
Aug 31, 2010 9:52 pm |
Review by Edward Durney for The Car That Could: The Inside Story of GM’s Revolutionary Electric Vehicle
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The book “The Car That Could” tells the story of GM’s EV1 much better than the film “Who Killed the Electric Car?”. The book tells the story of the EV1′s birth. That is of course a more hopeful story than the EV1′s death, which the film covers. And that fact alone makes a big difference in the impact of the story that is told.
But there is another difference. “The Car That Could” tells the inside story of how the EV1 came to be. People within GM make a huge effort to give birth to the car. This was no sham attempt to live up to the California Air Resources Board mandate to put electric cars on the road. GM clearly had its technical and marketing people do their best work. And they did build a great little car, a car that could.
As we know now, though, GM’s EV1 did not live very long. The passion of those who put their money down to lease the cars could not make up for the fact that they were few in number. When the California Air Resources Board’s mandate went away, that spelled doom for the EV1.
No new EV1s were made. Those that had been made were crushed. A sad end for the car that could.
But though the film “Who Killed the Electric Car” implies that GM killed the EV1, the reasons for its death were more complex than that. And the real story of its death has not, I think, been told. Certainly not as well, and with so much insight, as the story of its birth.
But the story of the electric car has not ended. And there may be some hope for a happy ending. Recently GM’s CEO Rick Wagoner has said that he regrets the decision to kill the EV1. And GM promises to come out soon with a new series hybrid electric car. That may put GM back into competition with Toyota and Honda, and their parallel hybrid cars. If so, maybe we will see another, more successful version of a GM car that could.
Michael Shnayerson did a great job researching and writing about the birth of the EV1. Many of the insights written into the book will help those thinking about electric cars today.
So in my mind, “The Car That Could” should be required reading for anyone who wants to participate in the electric vehicle industry. Copies are hard to find now. But if you are interested in electric cars, find a copy and read it. “The Car That Could” makes the must-read list; “Who Killed the Electric Car?” does not.
Aug 31, 2010 9:57 pm |
Review by for The Car That Could: The Inside Story of GM’s Revolutionary Electric Vehicle
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The Car That Could is a good account of the people involved in the project and the difficulties that they overcame. At times is seemed that the project was doomed, thank goodness it suceeded! It is light on technical details and the author makes a number of gaffes concerning the units of electrical power and energy. As of August, 1989 only approximately 200 vehicles have been leased in Southern California, San Francisco and Arizonia. I shudder to think of the cost of these vehicles to GM.There is no account of driving the EV1, perhaps the author never had the chance. It is a very exciting vehicle to drive, quiet, with adequate acceleration and top speed. But with typical driving (as if it were a conventional car) the available range with a full charge seems to be 35 to 40 miles. I suppose with experience, and a light foot, it would be possiible to acheive the rated EPA range of 80 miles, but the tempation to drive the car harder is well nigh irresistable. The ride is wonderfully smooth, particularly considering the 50 psi inflation of the tires. The handling is excellent, it feels like a sports car. Overall, an good account of the project. I hope another more technical book is written in the future.
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