The EV1, the father of the Chevy Volt. Originally called The GM Impact, was leased to consumers in California and Arizona though Saturn dealerships. Later in 2002 all of the cars where recalled back to GM, and they stopped all production.

The MSRP started at $33,995 in 1998. It was an all electric, 4 wheel, 2 seater with a range of about 100 miles.

GM also work on a 4 seat EV1 at that time called Parallel-Hybrid diesel/electric. Sound familiar? But was never realized until the Volt.

This is a film that introduced the EV1 to the employees at GM.

The some owners reported driving 800 miles per month on $17 worth of electricity using off peak electricity. The $399 lease payment included the home charger unit.

Link to 2001 GM EV1 website, I hope it never goes down.

See the famous EV1 TV commercial spot – Air date Dec. 5th 1996