Quentin Willson goes to California to drive the all electric EV1 from General Motors. Top Gear, 1997 Copyright: BBC Worldwide
Пікірлер: 196
@blazeelvirafirehoof78443 жыл бұрын
this one guy around 3:40 saying "couple of more years and it'll probably be fashionable to drive these" had no clue just how right he was.
@mattwolf76983 жыл бұрын
He was right but about the Tesla Model S.
@matthiasknutzen60612 жыл бұрын
Took more than a couple of years though. But had GM continued developing this rich people might have had these as their city car.
@Passionatemoviebuff Жыл бұрын
So basically, fast forward a couple of decades...
@pb5x511 ай бұрын
Think how good electric card would be now if they had been developed from this onwards. Now they are being rushed out over over much less time.
@milfordcivic67558 жыл бұрын
bet gm is kicking themselves for killing it
@markscribner85738 жыл бұрын
They already did, in the pants ;) www.wired.com/2016/09/chevrolet-bolt-range-epa-rating/
@alexsaab80897 жыл бұрын
Ima fan Yeah the oil companies payout probably doesn't look as good since everyone's moving toward electric
@strongmentalitydude35536 жыл бұрын
Fucking capitalist sons of bitches
@markplott48205 жыл бұрын
Ima fan - GM also killed the Street Car and Electric rail in America.
@04dram043 жыл бұрын
Naw it was to ahead of its time. Probably wouldnt have sold well
@florisrodermond90255 жыл бұрын
All these lucky people that are blessed with experiencing the EV1
@elijahhmarshall3 жыл бұрын
Test drive a Tesla
@peter-radiantpipes28002 жыл бұрын
I remember seeing them at dealerships and on the road. The range was just awful of course and most people weren’t interested. Only the rich wanting virtue signaling had them. Then they crushed them all. Yeah that’s good for the environment. Lol
@Frank712 жыл бұрын
They were the true EV enthusiasts.
@krampp24 Жыл бұрын
I was on of the greatful ones who got to experience one when i was 6
@Catbert8144 жыл бұрын
2020 Cellphones are once again the size of bricks and cost over $1000
@AJ6spd3 жыл бұрын
Exactly lol
@mirelurk-fish73873 жыл бұрын
You can thank John legerd and Verizon for screwing the whole cell phone industry and fucking us over
@paulpark11702 жыл бұрын
but have the power of a supercomputer on your hands. Big difference
@matthiasknutzen60612 жыл бұрын
No they have the surface of the large side of a brick
@MiguelRodriguez-nt5eq2 жыл бұрын
@@paulpark1170 More like a corporate Government tracker..
@MaartenvanRossemLezingen8 жыл бұрын
"The days of internal combustion engines, are definitely, numbered." Turns out the oil industry wouldn't let us have it that easily. However now with Tesla and more and more concepts popping up I think we can finally start developing better and better technology. Sadly that took almost 20 years.
@TommyboyGTP6 жыл бұрын
As long as oil can be extracted at an affordable price, you won't see EV vehicles surpassing ICE vehicles anytime soon.
@hajjdawood6 жыл бұрын
The oil indurstry? Why should we get upset at the oil industry, because they have a superior product? Even still to this day gasoline and especially diesel contains much more energy given a volume. One can also refill that energy in mere minutes, and take it with them wherever they go. My F150 with its 36 gallon tank can go 700-900 miles before needing to be filled up, and filling up takes a few minutes tops. Batteries are still grossly expensive (far more than even a full engine replacement) and start to go bad around 5-8 years, whereas some engines are still working great 20+ years later. Im not ragging on electric, in fact I owned the Chevy Volt for a few years, but it is delusional to think the "big bad evil oil companies" are what are stopping electric cars, verses them simply being impractical and expensive.
@jmkhenka6 жыл бұрын
the real problem is oil. Oil represents the closest thing we have to free energy. Without it, we would not have 2 billion cars on the roads. More and more vehicles will become EV as the oil prices go up due to availability. Its difficult to compete with a expensive (say tesla) vehicle with a cheap affordable alternative like a gas car, esp with the improvements they have managed with euro6 etc.
@gwizz78045 жыл бұрын
I'd like to agree with you but your voice gives me the creeps
@TheObsessedGardener5 жыл бұрын
@@TommyboyGTP Well, any individual who commutes the average distance would benefit from cheap electricity and pain free ownership. We got rid of our gas burners for a mitsubishi electric and wouldnt consider anything else. We made the last repayment early this year and very rarely even pay for electricity. Thankfully we have a solar building that's a part of our local university with access to a free fast charger. No emissions and no cost to the consumer. Win-win.
@firehawk6416 жыл бұрын
I feel like i just watched a Tesla review from 15 years ago... good thing Tesla achieved a better range and didn't meet the same end as the EV1.
@originalpadoru4 жыл бұрын
Hashna Fennec this is super high range for a car like this, most evs have this today, I’m not even joking some have 70 miles range whilst the ev1 has 80 miles
@originalpadoru4 жыл бұрын
Apologies I meant 120 miles
@JDMHaze3 жыл бұрын
BAD!! This car had so much promise it was ridiculous, especially considering its performance for the time was beyond exceptional they were basically the Tesla up today back then, but even more ahead of their time
@JackoBanon1 Жыл бұрын
Back then there were no Lithium-Ion-Batteries yet and that explains, why the concept wasn't promesing for GM. The EV1 with todays batteries would have a Tesla like range or even more than that.
@thelining40785 жыл бұрын
1997: the days of the petrol engine are numbered 2019: the days of the petrol engine are numbered 2041: ?
@FAT88935 жыл бұрын
It won't be numbered. Car manufacturers are now making much more energy efficient engines than before.
@unknownentity7425 жыл бұрын
2041: the days of petrol engines are over. That’s exciting.
@bangerbangerbro5 жыл бұрын
@@unknownentity742 Should have been over by the 80s really. yeah the battery technology wasn't there you might say but it would have been if they'd been developing batteries consistently ever since they were invented.
@CYCLEGAMER14 жыл бұрын
No one You know Facts!!!
@user-gc1hg9sp9k3 жыл бұрын
it's over now, if usa and europe car manufacture not quicky change their engine to ev from now. they will losing by china electric vehicle company right now BYD ( china ev brand) are supplying the US with their electric bus
@gabrieldufresne1825 жыл бұрын
Anyone esle here because of Doug DeMuro?
@gonzalooliveraalves5 жыл бұрын
Yeah! We all want to know how does that pedestrian horn sounds like 😂
@Tahakamee5 жыл бұрын
Me
@kostea875 жыл бұрын
haha exactly
@chrismichael11615 жыл бұрын
Awesome! Me too, just went down the EV1 rabbit hole
@AaronGGAMING5 жыл бұрын
Same
@Borathi53 жыл бұрын
Car wow brought me here
@BigEightiesNewWave3 жыл бұрын
4:35 NOW THE HOMELESS WILL ATTACK HIM TOO.
@Alanphuphalee5 жыл бұрын
$600 per month in 1997. Wow
@sh-ig9fm3 жыл бұрын
The reason why electric cars didn't succeed back then was because of the negative remarks like what he keeps saying in this video If the media wasn't so negative then the electric car would have been more successful It's the same reason why the British car industry failed
@CortinasAndClassics4 жыл бұрын
The first case of range anxiety lol
@AlainHubert6 жыл бұрын
The oil industry did not allow this to happen back then. But today the electric car might actually have a chance...
@InternetDude5 жыл бұрын
AlainHubert um have you heard of Tesla?
@JDMHaze3 жыл бұрын
yess gm was ahead of their time
@arnaudmeert1527Ай бұрын
"the oil industry" or rather "the consumer". People didn't want overpriced, cumbersome electric cars with limited range.
@ZedAlfa.7 жыл бұрын
Electrics finally made it to the market. Not just Tesla, but more affordable ones as well. The Nissan Leaf, Zap car etc. and not to mention all the enthusiasts that convert their own cars to pure battery electric.
@akzebraminer7 жыл бұрын
Dino Di Lucido Tesla is making affordable cars too... but you have to reserve it right now
@bandombeviews60357 жыл бұрын
Dino Di Lucido They were nearly 100 years ago.
@markplott48205 жыл бұрын
Dino Di Lucido - the All Electric Honda Insight was on the market for over a Decade.
@JackoBanon1 Жыл бұрын
After all these years I became the proud owner of a Model 3 Performance and oh boy, I will never go back to gasoline engines.
@jacksonbangs66035 жыл бұрын
This guy needs to come to the future and drive a Tesla Modle 3 electric car. Weird watching videos from not that distant of a past.
@ramblerandy23973 жыл бұрын
He has his own small part-time YT channel, where he basically road tests EVs now. I believe he owns a Model 3.
@bangerbangerbro5 жыл бұрын
GM should start making these again with updated powertrains. I'm sure people would buy them.
@Simon-wn2id3 жыл бұрын
They did in a sense, because what they learned from the EV1 they put into the Volt/Ampera and also the Bolt.
@bangerbangerbro3 жыл бұрын
@@Simon-wn2id I suppose.
@matthewgodwin30508 ай бұрын
@@Simon-wn2id I don't remember EV1 having half the problems that Volt, Ampera or Bolt have experienced. I certainly don't remember any of them catching fire. Personally, I think EV1 was a better engineered car, and it's range wasn't too far behind some of today's models. Mini E, and Renault Zoe, for instance. If GM had held it's nerve and kept up production and development of EV1, they would be king of the hill today, and Elon Musk would be nowhere.
@justinjohnson17666 жыл бұрын
1:54 for everyone out there, that vehicle is powerful enough to be in any fast lane on this planet so, you know.
@CynicalBastard5115 жыл бұрын
0:05 Volvo S70 with Swedish plates... In the USA... WTF?!
@adorabasilwinterpock60353 жыл бұрын
Some people bring their cars over when they move.
@JDMHaze3 жыл бұрын
lmaoo
@olive86043 жыл бұрын
@@adorabasilwinterpock6035 And their plates, too? Didn't know that was legal.
@irocjared5 жыл бұрын
3:00 oh hey I drive past that place everyday in gta.
@janred94 Жыл бұрын
Nearly 10.000 days later we are almost there! 😅
@tommoger Жыл бұрын
Nope, we’ve been there for some years now.
@TheSeanUhTron7 жыл бұрын
With the majority of car manufacturers developing and selling PHEV's, I think we're finally getting to see the beginning of mass market adoption of EV's. Though manufacturers will have to start finding somewhere else to place the battery pack. Most of them are shoving them into the trunk of the car which drastically reduces the cargo capacity. BEV's are still rather niche market, but still seeing growth.
@cg9862 жыл бұрын
Smart guy ;)
@ObiePaddles3 ай бұрын
PHEVs are not EVs. They are part EVs
@Sanyey6 жыл бұрын
Im trying to imagine how my current B car was already a 5yr old car, and my hobbycar was 6 at the time of this report XDD and they are still both running, and in pristine condition :D (2.0 8v Kadett GSi cabrio 1991, and a daily runner 1992 1.4 8v Astra F hachback)
@SHOREHILLEYEWEAR3 жыл бұрын
GM should have listened to the people
@grantlauzon52372 жыл бұрын
It just took 10 more years.
@jonathanjackson92087 жыл бұрын
The gangs of la will not be cutting you into any pieces
@MrCarguy27 жыл бұрын
Jonathan Jackson Correct, they will be filling you with lead and holes
@bigjd2k6 жыл бұрын
What would this be like with a lithium battery? Absolutely stonking!
@wclifton968gameplaystutorials6 жыл бұрын
it would be a car that can go very far that's what it would be like with lithium battery cells assuming the use of 18650 LI-Ion cells
@wclifton968gameplaystutorials2 жыл бұрын
@jerry calvert Solar can only take you so far and only when the sun is shining... I think the hybrid Lithium-Ion cells and solar cells on the SONO Motors Sion is a good example of this hybrid that'll work well...
@matthewgodwin30508 ай бұрын
Lithium iron batteries are a dead end. Too damaging to the environment, too expensive to produce, too short lived, almost impossible to recycle, and far too fire prone.
@SnowBunneh7 жыл бұрын
RCR brought me here :3
@georgemacias4367 жыл бұрын
Karry Roberta C. Same
@Jaggrawr5 жыл бұрын
What video did he mention EV1?
@Omar-em7rl5 жыл бұрын
i would like to know as well, he never mentioned Electric Brown, just a bunch of WingaDinga.
@Gunsforfreedom3 жыл бұрын
4 miles to spare. That's a happy day for us EV owners.
@robwhitmore3040 Жыл бұрын
ColdFusion brought me here. Never knew this thing existed
@IanJTaylor4 жыл бұрын
Oh Quintin, if only you were right at the end there. Loved the music from Psycho btw!
@QuantumBraced7 жыл бұрын
Top Gear is one of the most biased shows. They're entertaining, but 1/3rd of their shows are Land Rover commercials, another 20% is Toyota commercials, they're heavily prejudiced against electric cars... only watch them for entertainment, never for a serious review.
@bilal002767 жыл бұрын
QuantumBraced This was the old Top Gear which was cancelled due to it not being entertaining enough
@alexsaab80897 жыл бұрын
watch the Grand Tour instead
@FAT88937 жыл бұрын
..."heavily prejudiced against electric cars". Not much difference with the lads from The Grand Tour.
@electrictroy20105 жыл бұрын
This is the Original Top Gear (like original Star Trek). It was canceled. The New Top Gear started in 2002(?) and indeed the hosts were a bunch of comedians. The new show was funny. The original show (which you’re watching on youtube) was serious .
@supersix-four95093 жыл бұрын
@peter burry You can be informative and entertaining. 2002 Top gear was.
@TimLucasdesign5 жыл бұрын
SO depressing that over 20 years on and we're still driving gigantic V8's that get 17mpg :(
@FAT88935 жыл бұрын
I would. Heck, even McLaren V8 can do 30 mpg now. Lamborghini even have cylinder deactivation.
@supersix-four95093 жыл бұрын
My 89 C2500 5.7 liter gets 7 and i love every mile
@jakeh31442 жыл бұрын
If the brakes are electronic, do the brakes die when the battery dies?
@mattwolf76983 жыл бұрын
3:40 He was right about electric cars being fashionable, just with the Model S instead of this.
@nm-conceptfilms Жыл бұрын
Well he was kinda right with his last statement... But ahead of his time
@filmsbnio9 ай бұрын
"The days of petrol engine cars are numbered" Yes they are : 2035 in Europe
@Birdy6065 ай бұрын
Lithium ion batteries have came a long way since this car was made...that probably would have made a huge difference if GM could have had those to work with...
@N0T0NegativeNancy4 ай бұрын
I bet if they did this in 2024 they would have kept it around
@N0T0NegativeNancy4 ай бұрын
I mean I would have one
@electrictroy20105 жыл бұрын
I knew a guy named Doug Wickstrom that worked at GM’s EV1 division. QUOTE: “The range of 130 miles is bogus. None of them ever achieved that under normal driving conditions. Running the air conditioning or heater could halve that range. Even running the headlights reduced it by 10%. “Minimum recharge time was two hours using special charging stations that (except for fleet use) didn't exist..... NiMH batteries that had lasted up to three years in testing were failing after 6 months in service. There was no way to keep them from overheating without doubling the size of the battery pack. Lead-acid batteries were superior to NiMH in actual daily use.” “You cannot turn batteries "off." This is the reason the vehicles were leased, rather than sold. As long as the terms of the lease prohibited maintenance by other than a Hughes technician, GM's liability in the event of a screw-up was much reduced. Technicians can encounter high voltages in hybrid vehicles. In the EV1, there were really high voltages present. “Lessees were complaining that their electric bills had increased to the point that they'd rather be using gasoline..... the car was a dream to drive, if you didn't mind being stranded between Bakersfield and Barstow on a hot July afternoon when a battery blew up from the combined heat of the day and the current draw.“
@tanelkullus2 жыл бұрын
The last words, haha
@RISCGames5 жыл бұрын
"This is governed because it's California..." should have been a early warning sign. Now look at them lol
@albertopazsamano68786 жыл бұрын
RIP ev1 😭😭😭😭😭
@TheObsessedGardener5 жыл бұрын
The days of the ICE are definitely numbered as I sit in my Mitsubishi imiev watching KZbin while I'm fast charging.
@unknownentity7425 жыл бұрын
No offence but your car is a piece of shit. I’m all for electric cars, but the imiev is an embarrassment:
@bangerbangerbro5 жыл бұрын
@@unknownentity742 It's the first mass produced LI-ion car. It's only crap because its one of the first of the current (or just passed) wave of real mass-produced EVs. It predates the Leaf by a year and the Tesla model S by 3 years.
@unknownentity7425 жыл бұрын
No one You know On the i-miev the range is shit. The design is shit. The leaf is a far better car and is worth waiting an extra year for.
@bangerbangerbro5 жыл бұрын
@@unknownentity742 It's a conversion of another car. Yes the leaf is obviously better but I'm just saying it's one of the first so in terms of things like range you can't really complain.
@KanishQQuotes2 жыл бұрын
A surprise considering gm top management likes to congratulate themselves with big bonuses while products suffer They created a new car company from scratch, saw success and they ran it to the ground. Same with ev1
@joshbacon82417 жыл бұрын
Imagine if he actually ran out of charge before he got to the garage...
@afk1sec4105 жыл бұрын
@Rob James You can bring gas to your dead car but you have to bring a dead electric to outlet. It's not remotely comparable. You are dumb.
@pozzo19795 жыл бұрын
@@afk1sec410 If electric cars become mainstream, we will probably see portable battery packs that you could buy for those kinds of emergencies. Although they will certainly be much heavier than a portable gas container
@bangerbangerbro5 жыл бұрын
@Rob James I don't think you have understood his comment correctly.
@afk1sec4105 жыл бұрын
@Rob James Are you really so fucking stupid that you think the two are comparable? Every place that sells gas has containers for it. Also much easier to stop for gas before running out, which by the way is displayed to you so that you don't, than finding a charging station. And what do you suppose that generator is running on?
@bangerbangerbro5 жыл бұрын
@Rob James He asks you to imagine if he actually couldn't get to his destination because of the car running out of energy. You responded as if he meant that as some sort of situation being used in an argument between EVs and ICEVs. As far as I can tell he literally just means "what would have happened to him specifically if he actually did get stuck?".
@atharvabansode72912 жыл бұрын
can someone tell about that saxophone music in beginning?
@somebody2934 Жыл бұрын
Bruh there is volvo with Swedish plate xd 0:04
@RichardHowells12342 жыл бұрын
Hemp💚 4 batteries and fuel ⛽️ yeh
@stevebirks21865 жыл бұрын
Why is gm crushing these cars ?
@FAT88935 жыл бұрын
Probably because other companies might steal their ideas? Somehow, it reminds me of the Chrysler Turbine Car from 1955.
@skoapiee4 жыл бұрын
'The EV1's discontinuation remains controversial, with electric car enthusiasts, environmental interest groups and former EV1 lessees accusing GM of self-sabotaging its electric car program to avoid potential losses in spare parts sales (sales forced by government regulations), while also blaming the oil industry for conspiring to keep electric cars off the road.[6] As a result of the forced repossession and destruction of the majority of EV1s, an intact and working EV1 is one of the rarest cars from the 1990s. '
@alexsaab80897 жыл бұрын
Oh yeah that ev1 really beat on that N/A S70 lol
@Alexs237432 жыл бұрын
The EV-1. The greatest car there could've been, and the greatest disappointment there ever was. As it stands, this market is now dominated by the Japanese and some guy named Elon. D:
@sziehr2 жыл бұрын
This is why I will never forgive GM, sure the EV1 was a bit hamstrung at the time, that time being 1996, and just 5 years latter Elon would go on to use 80% of the GM crushed tech in the roadster since GM used an outside engineering from AC propulsion. So yeah GM literally handed Elon Musk the entire RnD to get his powertrain started as throw away casue well insert your reason here there are whole movies about it...... The reality is GM should not be forgiven, had they made it a CA only lease car for just a few more years the age of lithium would have arrived and the EV 1 could have gone more mainstream quicker and charging would have spread like wild fire. So yeah GM effectively gave ICE 10 more years by shelving the EV1
@Dev.n3 жыл бұрын
Who’s here from The JRE Podcast? Elon seemed a bit impressed with this lil thing.
@Saopabloberry4 жыл бұрын
3:00 Mario Almada.
@JDMHaze3 жыл бұрын
$600 a month!!!! in 1996/1997. !!??? sheesh thats bmw M3 money
@BigShaneGillis5 жыл бұрын
No four wheel drive obviously lmao
@stevebirks21865 жыл бұрын
Loved the optimism back then - Everone looking forwards to the future-Then why is GM recalling them to be crushed ? - Then theres the Musk guy buliding Tesla e cars -This guy puts Eddison Above Tesla because he says eddison did more than Tesla for public -I think Musk should read his history books ?
@guinnessharvey44762 жыл бұрын
The car so good they crushed it cuz it was a threat to their combustion cars
@mntsam19302 жыл бұрын
Not true, it was merely a test ran by gm that turned out to not be profitable, therefore they killed it.
@jippyjester2 жыл бұрын
Yeah but it took Elon Musk with Tesla to bring us kicking and screaming to where we are now.....If it weren't for Tesla we would be years away from a sensible electric car and (more importantly) the infrastructure to support them
@cleovidrine86736 жыл бұрын
These are.coming back when digital cash is implemented. Its gonna be awhile whan 5hey get the greenbacks. Retired that buys oil there still gonna use the greenbacks privately
@Mannard745 жыл бұрын
0:18 That's a sexy 2nd gen Probe SE! The black demographic will never buy that though.. unless it can have 20" wheels or bigger. Needs more chrome, too.
@JDMHaze3 жыл бұрын
it almost replaced the mustang lol
@JoshuaMilrad3 ай бұрын
Sponsored by BP? SMH
@Biskawow5 жыл бұрын
Koreans will win it all in the end. They make reasonably priced electric cars and batteries for all other brands. Smart Koreans, they already make smart phones and TVs for the whole world.
@FAT88935 жыл бұрын
Koreans (and Japanese) had even made hydrogen fuel cell electric cars as well. GM may had done it much earlier with the HyWire, but it's just a technical exercise.
@JakobKsGarage3 жыл бұрын
I usually love Quentin Wilson as a presenter, but this was stupid and ignorant on a Jeremy Clarkson level!
@jamesholmes12352 жыл бұрын
face it people electric cars are not a viable product. they cost to much. they do not help the environment. you still have to burn coal to charge them. batteries are heavy and very expensive and bad for the environment. payload is small families cannot ride in most of the ones on the market. i do realize there are some out there that are suv's and trucks but they are very expensive. the average family cannot afford them. and its been that way from the start. lately people are consumed with the realization that electric cars have been around since the early 1900's but fail to recognize that the cars cost 4 times as much as a model T, so again i say to you it is a failed product and always will be.
@mikesantos011 Жыл бұрын
I am sure people with horse and buggies were saying something similar when cars came out
@jamesholmes1235 Жыл бұрын
@@mikesantos011 Stupid comparison it's irrelevant!!! We're not talking about carriages and we're not talkin about late 1800s early 1900s We're talking about today and the problems with electric cars that I referred to. You have not addressed one of the things that I pointed out. They are way too expensive and the suggested purpose for them to help with green gas emissions is a false narrative because it does no good. You still have to burn coal to produce the electricity to charge them and the lithium and nickel and all the ores that have to be taken out of the Earth to make the batteries by foreign countries and people putting their lives in danger... it doesn't balance out. There is no gain.
@iPakistani5 жыл бұрын
This guy is a dude
@bobbritches8462 жыл бұрын
This video plays like crap.
@doffy2192 Жыл бұрын
N9
@timparziale8762 Жыл бұрын
They would run great and be way faster with lithium batteries. But they destroyed them all