EV1 electric carIn 1996, the EV1 electric car, running on nickel-metal-hydride batteries, was announced by General Motors at the Greater Los Angeles Auto Show. Its limited introduction began later in the year, available only on lease, and only in California and Arizona. Although its wider adoption would have met requirement to move toward zero-emission cars, when California backed down from its stricter air-pollution standards, the GM scrapped the electric model in 2003, citing excessive production and maintenance expenses. Instead, the company fed consumers' whims for sport-utility vehicles (SUVs) and small trucks, rather than downsizing their fleet or developing hybrids in the face of more fuel-efficient imports. The company went bankrupt in 2008, and was bailed out by the U.S. government.« |