The Power and Transportation Future - Hydrogen and Fuel Cells: Advances in Transportation and Power - page 259

ing experience similar to a quiet luxury car. An electric powered vehicle
can be extremely quiet and will appear to be as transparent to drivers as
possible.
The Ecostar used high-temperature, sodium-sulfur batteries because
of their range, but they also allowed the van to go from 0-60 in 12 seconds.
The Ecostar had no trouble keeping up with gas vehicles, but Ford only
built about 80 Ecostars. The sodium-sulfur batteries proved to be too sen-
sitive to cold weather. They operated at 500° Fahrenheit and caused fires
in several of the demonstrator cars.
U.S. Electricar built the lead-acid Electricar Prizm in Torrance,
California, at Hughes Power Control Systems, a GM subsidiary that also
designed the car's DC-to-AC inverter. Instead of a gas gauge there was a
range meter. The batteries were in a covered tunnel underneath the car.
Most electric vehicles have good low-end torque for excellent 0-60 accel-
eration, but the Prizm was a little sluggish initially but then picked up
quickly. The car used a recharging paddle.
Detroit's electric cars have a shaky history since the market can
change rapidly in the automobile industry, which is dependent on long
lead times for new models. In 1975, when memories of the oil embargo
were fresh, Detroit's cars were still growing in size, but it was a record
sales year for the Volkswagen Beetle and sales of Toyotas and Hondas
reached 100,000 that year. GM's profits dropped 35% and the company
had to temporarily close 15 of its 22 assembly plants.
With nothing but full-sized cars in its inventory, GM launched a crash
program to build an economy model, which resulted in the Chevette. It
was based on GM's German Opel Kadett, a 4-cylinder, 52-horsepower com-
pact with 35-miles per gallon economy. In 1976, GM sold almost 190,000 of
the hatchback Chevettes and the market seemed right for electric vehicles.
Small start-up companies had been offering electric conversions for com-
muter vehicles. The CitiCar was produced by Sebring-Vanguard, which for
a short time was the fifth largest automaker in the United States.
GM built an electric vehicle (EV) called the Electrovette in 1980. It was
a Chevette with a DC electric motor and zinc nickel oxide batteries. The
Electrovette used a mechanical controller. The batteries were expensive and
not much better than lead-acid power for extending the range of operation.
The Electrovette had controller problems and GM let the project die.
In 1996 GM would launch the EV1. Almost every part of the EV1
is designed for energy efficiency. The steering wheel and seat frames are
made of low-weight magnesium. The radio antenna is part of the roof