As we’ve noted before, General Motors has been experimenting with electric vehicles throughout its history. Here’s an example from 1979, the Electrovette.
There’s some irony in the fact that General Motors is currently playing catch-up in the electric vehicle game. The automaker has been dabbling in EVs for more than a century, as we have documented here at Mac’s Motor City Garage. Among the examples: the early GMC electric trucks, the 1966 Electrovair, and the Electrovan. Here’s one more noble but ultimately doomed effort: the 1979 Electrovette.
The Electrovette was—obviously enough, as we see above—based on a North American-market Chevrolet Chevette, its body and floor pan shortened approximately six inches between the door and rear wheel opening, converting it into a two-seat coupe. The fan-cooled electronic controller and inverter resided up front in the former engine compartment, while a Delco 50kW (63 hp) electric motor was tucked into the transmission tunnel and the battery tray was housed behind the seats. Compared to earlier GM prototypes, the Electrovette was equipped with at least one significant advance: regenerative braking.
As GM explained it at the time, the project was based on a premise that first, rising gasoline prices would drive consumer demand toward short-range, commuter-type vehicles. GM president Pete Estes predicted to The Washington Post that by 1990, one in ten vehicles sold in the USA could be battery-electric, though strictly to the commuter-car and city-delivery markets. Next, GM was testing a potential breakthrough in battery technology from its Delco-Remy division.
Above, Estes poses with the Electrovette’s 250-volt zinc/nickel-oxide battery pack. Like any battery, nickel-zinc has its pros and cons. On the plus side, its energy density is far superior to the familiar lead-acid battery, yielding more juice per unit of mass. On the minus side, its internal chemistry produces reduced charging cycles and shortened battery life. Acording to Delco Remy general manager Elmer Reese, it was here the division’s engineers had made real progress. Initially, GM estimated a 50 mph speed, 300 charging cycles, 100 miles range, and a charging time of eight hours.
From the available facts, it seems the battery breakthrough failed to come through as anticipated. The Electrovette’s performance stats were soon revised downward to 30 mph and 50 miles of range, and according to some reports, the nickel-zinc battery pack was replaced with a set of plain old lead-acid batteries. (For nickel-zinc batteries, breakthroughs would come later.) GM’s next great experiment in electric vehicles would come in 1996 with the ambitious EV1.
