Safety and Comfort
The EV1’s specification includes dual
airbags, anti-lock brakes, air-conditioning,
a CD player and cruise control.
Because the car is extremely quiet it is
fitted with special “pedestrian-friendly”
chimes, light signals and a reversing
horn to warn of its presence.

World records
The EV1 has performance to rival
similarly sized petrol-driven cars. In
1997 a prototype EV1 captured the
world land-speed record for electric
vehicles at 183 mph. With a drag
coefficient of 0.19 the EV1 is the
world’s most aerodynamic production
vehicle.
 

The spread of ‘new’ technology
Research, conducted in the United
States, has revealed some interesting
information about the proliferation of
new technologies which may give
some insight into the future of alternative
transport systems. The chart
below, originally published in the
Wall Street Journal, shows the number
of years it took for key technologies
to spread to 25 per cent of the population
in the United States. The results
indicate an increase in the rate of
spread, particularly in the case of the
mobile phone and video recorder.

The EV1 - not the first electric car
Purpose built for electric propulsion,
the EV1 shows the way ahead with
state-of-the-art materials and electronics.
Perhaps in the first half of the
next century, the electric car will be as
common in the US as it was at the
beginning of the century, when 38 per
cent of cars were electric.
 

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