Why did the world abandon EVs?

[@apostolosviol]

The research behind this documentary is incredible! It must have taken you ages in order to find all of that information. Thank you once more for being so professional.

[@DWREV]

Thanks for watching! We do hope you'll subscribe to our channel, and become a part of the REV community.

[@kevinwhited984]

In 1979, my father bought a Bradley GTe. It was an all electric car with a range of 80-90 miles and a top speed of 70mph. In fact, after his passing, we sold it two years ago.

[@DWREV]

Wow, what a rare car! There were only 50 of them made.

[@RPRosen-ki2fk]

Thanks for mentioning this. When I was a kid, I was super into the Bradley GT and the GT2, but was totally unaware of them ever doing an electric version. Ironic since I've been a HUGE EV enthusiast since 2010.

[@OKFrax-ys2op]

How many miles did he log on it?

[@captlazer5509]

Had a air cooled VW powered GT2, went to kit car shows and talked to an owner of a GT2 electric. Told me you could hear the VW transmission more than the electric motor.

[@RPRosen-ki2fk]

Thank You for this coverage, I'm a HUGE fan of EV's and their history. I actually knew about the Corbin Sparrow, early Tesla and the EV1. You showed me how much I DON'T KNOW. So many vehicles and prototypes I was unaware of. I'm beginning to think they have NEVER completely disappeared, there seems to always been someone somewhere in the world building one. I would love to see someone document the COMPLETE HISTORY in one place someday. Thanks again for the fun video.

[@DWREV]

Thanks so much for your feedback. Please pass the video on to a friend!

[@rgbii2]

14:40 GM didn't sell the EV1, they leased them. That was how they were able to get them back and crush them.

[@DWREV]

Good point. Right you are! And as you say, they did crush most of them.

[@toyotaprius79]

​@@DWREVdid you neglect to mention the Ovonics NiMH battery patents that GM sold to Texaco (Tex later bought by Chevron) and Chevron waging a patents embargo against any automakers using high-capacity Ah NiMH batteries including suing Toyota $250 million in 2004/05. Plus all the involved actors from Chevron, Toyota, GM to the Bush administration suing the California Air Resource Board for the audacity of legislating 5% of new car sales being Zero Emission Vehicles...

[@DWREV]

@@toyotaprius79 That's all interesting stuff, yes. Thanks for bringing it to our attention. Unfortunately we can't fit everything into one report!

[@mallikakrishnan778]

Very well researched and informative. Loved it

[@DWREV]

We're glad you liked it. Please pass it on to a friend!

[@DerekSevante]

Here in Brazil we had the Gurgel Itaipu EV in the 1970's, after which the government invested in the development of sugar cane ethanol for cars, which we still have and most cars now are fitted with flex-fuel engines that run on either gasoline, ethanol or any mixture of both

[@adv.shravanvijayakumar8352]

We too followed the Brazilian model here in India....all fuel sold in India has Ethanol blended to the fuel of up to 20%.

[@nlpnt]

The really shocking part of the Electrovair project is that Chevrolet had a ready and cheap-to-implement midcycle facelift ready to be applied to the '67 or '68 gas-engined production Corvair but wasn't willing to spend even that pittance on the program, so it kept its' 1965 look all the way to 1969 at a time when annual style changes were the norm.

[@kencarney6667]

My stepdad was an engineer on the Henny Kilowatt project in 1960. His job was to oversee the building of the motors that powered them and to their installation. Not all of them were sold to electric companies. Dr Robert Bone, the president of Illinois State University, bought one for his own use. I'd love to have a Henny today so that could educate people about it by letting them see one. That, and the fact he worked on it means a lot to me.

[@DWREV]

Great story! No surprise that the Henny means a lot to you.

[@urbanstrencan]

What a great video, didn't know about half of EVs history ❤❤❤

[@DWREV]

Glad you liked it. Please pass it on to a friend!

[@tomsummers1137]

You asked for comments, so here’s mine. This is a great summarization and compilation of manufactured EVs. How about doing a video about the thousands, probably tens of thousands, of DIYers around the world, converting ICE cars to electric drive.

[@DWREV]

That is an excellent idea. We actually have done some stories like that -- for example, this one: kzbin.info/www/bejne/i5yXo3hsYrupf7csi=BaKVcIe23hCa7Wkl

[@DWREV]

I'm sure it would be worth doing more like that!

[@tomsummers1137]

@@DWREV I just watched the video about the guy in Spain, who built his own EV. It turns out he sourced his batteries from my good friend,Jehu Garcia. We at the EV learning center and EV West have had a long collaboration with Jehu.

[@DWREV]

@@tomsummers1137 Wow, how about that! It's a small world sometimes.

[@dandantheideasman]

Really great info-doc. The most comprehensive coverage of the history of EV's I've ever seen. Thank you for your amazing journilism. Learnt so much more and I genuinely thought I knew of most of the EV's in the past. Kudos.

[@DWREV]

Thanks so much for letting us know!

[@martythemartian99]

I live in Adelaide Australia, the finishing line of the World Solar Challenge. Back in late 1980's an electric car club from Melbourne drove their collection of small converted cars (Daihatsu hatchbacks and similar) over 720km to display them. They achieved this distance by each mounting a small Honda generator on a rear frame of their cars, thus temporarily turning them into homemade range extended hybrids.

[@DWREV]

Nice story!

[@benjaminnead8557]

I drive a 2012 Mitsubishi i-MiEV and, except for a battery which I wish was just a little bit larger, it's been the ideal car for me for the past 9 years. It's not too dissimilar to what the Chinese are making now. Too bad most of what we're currently seeing from here in the US is oversized battery land yachts. EVs are also inherently simple, but everyone wants to muck them up with overly-complex software and 'fool self-driving' capabilities. Thanks, DW, for this fun and informative historical overview.

[@DWREV]

Thanks so much for your comments. Please pass the video on to a friend!

[@tophlaw4274]

fun little ride on our electrified past... shame you didn't include Aptera in the mix as one of the representatives of the quirky side of EVs as well as China's contribution to electrifying the world...

[@DWREV]

Glad you enjoyed it! Yes, those would have also been points to include. But of course there's always a limit to how much can fit in one report.

[@toyotaprius79]

​@@DWREVDW is famous for cherry picking what to report, such as Israel's attrocities in the West Bank and Gaza, Palestine.

[@martythemartian99]

@@toyotaprius79 Not fair dude. :(

[@JVHShack]

It would be interesting to see what all of the unsuccessful EVs were, such as the Marathon C-300 from Canada. (The Marathon C-300 was based on the Ford Pinto, btw.)

[@DWREV]

That really would be interesting!

[@ravim111]

Great content!

[@DWREV]

Thanks for letting us know, and please pass it on to a friend!

[@jurepecar9092]

You should have concluded with Aptera as a sign of the future coming into preseent :)

[@coffeeisgood102]

Clicked on this because I own a Leaf and watch plenty of Jay Leno’s Garage and other videos. So I almost didn’t click on this because I thought I knew it all. WOW! Was I wrong. There was plenty of new info for me including that my Leaf had a predecessor many years ago I subscribed

[@DWREV]

Great to have you on board!

[@ronfarnsworth7074]

Learned a lot! Well done!

[@DWREV]

Thank you! Please pass on the video to a friend.

[@markplain2555]

Wow - just think about it - the established auto industry had actually attempted EVs. It took a new upstart to be the catalyst to a real EV transition. The fundamental change in the world came with Tesla's Model S. The Model S is the true milstone vehicle of our history.

[@KC9UDX]

It took an incredible salesman (to put it very politely) to procure massive subsidies.

[@danielzhang1916]

I would also give credit to Toyota for hybrid, they made it possible for EV, no one was serious about it ~15 years ago

[@Drexgreen-x]

Please don't play the background music so loud, it is distracting for some of us, unable to finish the video.

[@Parakeet-pk6dl]

16:25 we don’t need to save the planet. The earth will be fine. We need to save ourselves…

[@VikingAdventures-a2z]

great doc. DW 👍👍👍 Now make one who look into the future, how long it will take before most cars in Europe will be electric😉

[@DWREV]

Glad you liked it! Please pass it on to a friend. And thanks for the suggestion.

[@tomreingold4024]

This is fun and informative. Thank you.

[@DWREV]

Glad you liked it. Please pass it on to a friend!

[@stickynorth]

Most of the early prototypes were Kei/City EV's and that's frankly where they'll still do the most good. Short, in-town trips with lots of starts and stops. That's where EV's shine!

[@danielzhang1916]

I think when they figure out the charging and cost, that's when EV will take off for real this time

[@tetsuoshima2314]

Quirky is not dead Aptera is alive, but great overall piece regardless, hope we get more affordable compact EVs some day. Oh, and that tiny Carver EV is unique indeed. But yeah, more Fiat 500 and Mini Cooper size EVs please... people were buying the Chevy Bolt. Don't need Hummer EVs, lol. When the charging infrastructure is there and the prices are down then we'll make real progress... look at China.

[@toyotaprius79]

For anyone who thinks they're quick and smart to dismiss EVs for the "collapse of western industry/society" take a thorough look at what every new car regardless of fuel has grown into over the last 15-20 years. Ever bigger, ever expensive, ever more refined and "competitive" until every new car looks and competes in the same crossover-SUV design formula because they're more profitable. Dont be surprised about Chinese EVs being 10 years ahead or small affordable cars going extinct. And when you factor in how many of these new fuel guzzlers are financed and owned as company cars, dont be so surprised about the inflation everyone suffers with and stupidly blaming it on refugees.

[@Foersom_]

@DW where is the Peugeot 106 electric and sister model Citroën Saxo electric? Sold more than 6000 from mid 1990s to early 2000s? It was the world most sold electric car until Nissan Leaf took over in 2010.

[@DWREV]

Yes, they definitely could have been included. But there's never time to fit everything you want into one report!

[@petterbirgersson4489]

It's a pity that Europe didn't went all in for the electrical vehicles already in the 1970s. Imagine how much less of an impact on the climate we could have made and how much less leverage the reactionary dictatorships of the Middle East could have had over Europe.

[@flukeylukey7559]

Hiphi Z is pretty quirky and hi-tech. BMW i3 is also quirky design. The Ora Lightning Cat is a bit different. Hyundai ionic 6 is quite wierd.

[@pratapjayaram200]

Vaishali, Can give you a whole lot of pics on what we did at Reva

[@DWREV]

Well, we'd certainly love to see that! :-)

[@pratapjayaram200]

Will post here

[@serioustalkwithbhudax]

For the fact EVs don't die out this is a reason they must exist in this realm.

[@kiutpi]

You forgot the Rav4 Ec in the 90s and also 2010

[@DWREV]

Thanks for your comment. We'd have loved to show Toyota's RAV4 EV (and lots of others), but our videos can only be so long. Maybe we'll be able to feature it in a future video...

[@seanhynesireland]

Nobody ever said EV's are going to save the planet. They have a roll to play , but so to lots of other solutions

[@chasl3645]

GM should remake the electric corvair.

[@DWREV]

That really would be fun!

[@saurabhkatarey6818]

Can anyone explain how CHEVROLET ELECTROVAIR II 1966 managed to employ Induction motor for rear wheels? Were inverter technology or VFDs matured enough to control Induction motor speed back in 1966? Really loved the video, thanks.

[@DWREV]

Glad you liked it. Please pass it on to a friend!

[@DWREV]

As for your question, the motor was located in the rear but I don't believe it was powering the rear wheels.

[@saurabhkatarey6818]

But even if induction motor powered front wheel it needs inverter based VFDs to control speed. I'm just curious to know if they had power electronics drives then. Anyways thanks for reply. Appreciate your attempt.

[@DWREV]

@@saurabhkatarey6818 I've looked into the Electrovair in more depth for you. It did have an inverter which, while quite primitive compared to those in modern cars, functioned in much the same way. The inverter converted DC power to AC and allowed variable control of the motor's speed by adjusting the frequency and voltage of the AC power supplied to the motor.

[@saurabhkatarey6818]

@@DWREV Thank you for technical information from heart ❤️ I have never seen an administrar of any channel going so deep to answer subscribers tech query. Actually I'm a strong supporter of EVs & I firmly believe in revolutionizing mobility. I just love to update my self with current EV & battery technology. Have a nice day 😊

[@stickynorth]

Great video! A concise look at where we've been and how many possible technologies that weren't ready for mainstream adoption despite good intentions and designs including that really cool looking Henney Kilowatt which a Canadian company around the year 2000 tried to revive as a business of resto-modding the Renault Dauphine they were based upon. Feel Good Cars which became ZENN Automotive which then went bankrupt I believe... Sad that the innovators of the research at the time were also the ones to sleep on the EV revolution and now they are scrambling... I.e. Nissan and VW... Shame!

[@DWREV]

Glad you liked it. And thanks for that interesting info about trying to revive the Henney!

[@danielzhang1916]

if China hadn't jumped ahead to EV, we wouldn't be having this in the first place, no one was doing it 15 years ago

[@ChristianPareATLAS]

13:20 isn't 40 years but 50

[@DWREV]

Right you are! Thanks for correcting our math 🤓

[@moskitoh2651]

EVs had more than 100 years and are now below 3% share of cars worldwide, even with all the pro EV programs.

[@KC9UDX]

In the end the truth always wins. In the end, free markets always determine the truth.

[@moskitoh2651]

@@KC9UDX A free market had already decided. But now markets get controlled by politics more and more.

[@bagheera32]

@@moskitoh2651Like slapping a 100% tariff on cheap electric cars depriving consumers from choice

[@williamwatitwa3534]

More like pro ice manufacturers, thanks to a china led by technocrats rather than lobbyist, evs are here to stay

[@danielzhang1916]

EV has only had ~15 years really, compared to gas cars, it's apples to oranges

[@fluppiglich]

isnt DW a german news system? english accent seems off? or am i wrong and it isnt german?

[@DWREV]

Our report in this case is Indian.

[@TinLeadHammer]

"Early beginnings"? Can there be late beginnings?

[@toyotaprius79]

Constantly interrupted and stiffed you mean

[@jinsili8851]

An editorial about EVs and not once did i hear a mention of Elon Musk, this is clearly bias

[@williamwatitwa3534]

Because he seems to have invented nothing, the ev, the batteries even regen braking, everything had already been invented. The current evs are possible not because of Tesla but because of the rest of the pioneers mentioned.

[@TinLeadHammer]

Public transportation is the solution, not personal vehicles, ICE or EV.

[@toyotaprius79]

🎯🎯🎯 Let's just undo +70 years of western geopolitical petroleum dominance, the billions wasted on motorway sprawl and the decades of investment lost on social/state owned capital like tram and railways, co-op industries, social housing, public health and utilities, etc etc

[@TerryHickey-xt4mf]

in an ideal world, but not many people would think it is ideal from them.

[@sebyst7907]

Not in many circumstances. There is no all or nothing solutions here

[@flukeylukey7559]

Not much public transport in the country, I use a bicycle, but without a vehicle you wouldn't get anywhere.

[@Mike-hu3pp]

In large to mid size cities yes and I'd be happy to use it. I used to ride a city bus for my groceries. In rural areas with little to no city amenities a vehicle is a need. I don't want to walk or bike 2+ hours down a highway taking my life in my own hands for a grocery run.

[@COSMEREAUDIO]

without Elon Musk the E B Ravi Lucent will never happen

[@yellowgreen5229]

RailTransitNow

[@replica1052]

(tesla proved once and for all electric is superior being vehicle )

[@toyotaprius79]

Do not embarrass yourself

[@replica1052]

@@toyotaprius79 as in larger crumple zones, lower center of gravity, instant torque and less momentum of inertia when cornering - weight translates to grip (batteries are practical, wherever there is electricity you can get a charge )

[@ChristianPareATLAS]

EV cars are not good for Canadian weather. The range is cut in half in the cold so long distance driving is unsafe. If you run out of battery charging stations are not easy to find. Also we produce electricity out of natural gas in Alberta so that doesn't make sense to buy a car that cost a fortune to have less mobility and risk being stuck when traveling so no thanks. Elon Musk is a fascist also so I will not give him 1 dollar

[@CptAngelKGaming]

You didn't mention the technological advancements that made today's successful EVs possible so it's kind of a pointless video..

[@yellowgreen5229]

The C5 is goid, it is XARS that make them unsafe because CARS are dangerous. Car iusers deologically blame their victims.

[@-DC-]

Electric Vehicles are not the Solution because Internal Combustion is not the Problem.

[@dekev7503]

ICEs are part of the problem. And EVs are part of the solution.

[@valuemastery]

Yes, IC could be fine when the whole chain results in no CO2 pollution. However, reality is that we pump oil out of the earth and burn it. And that IS a problem. And there are no IC solutions available that can compete with EVs.

[@fenegroni]

Living under a rock must be so comfortable.

[@TerryHickey-xt4mf]

lock yourself in a garage with the engine running for an hour, you will soon change your mind, because you will be dead.

[@dandantheideasman]

😅 Anything that creates emissions is an issue. Not only through gases such as CO2, NoX and N2O - ref. transportation emissions. Also, through particulates and the harm they cause to human respiratory, circulatory and hormonal systems. Then there is the obvious energy loss due to the simple laws of thermal dynamics and kinetics. Internal combustion has too many losses through heat, that are not viably recoverable due to the weight implications of any process to recover the heat. And, then there is the kinetic loss; as each moving part requires energy to make it move, which is then a loss of energy in reference to the motion the engine is designed to achieve. So, internal combustion is and has been for some time, a horse and cart of the modern age.

[@miraclemk]

No mention of Korean and Chinese EV models apart from a brief shot of BYD at the very end 🫤