Why GM's EV1 Became One Of The Rarest Cars In The World

Back in the '90s before electric vehicles became a thing, General Motors embarked on an ambitious project: it was going to build a fully electric vehicle known as the EV1. This was after a regulation was passed by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) that required at least 2% of all automobiles sold by the largest auto manufacturers in California state by 1998 to be zero-emission vehicles. Ironically, GM had unveiled an electric concept car called Impact and over-promised that it could deliver 100,000 units per year at the 1990 Los Angeles Auto Show – this inspired CARB to draft the policy.

Since GM didn't want to lose its largest market share in the U.S, it produced 1,117 electric vehicles between 1996 and 1999. The automaker had no intention of selling the EV1 to customers and it was only available for leasing with no purchase clause after the contract expired. Here is the kicker, though: after CARB was forced to reverse the Zero Emission Vehicle policy in a federal court lawsuit, GM gradually recalled almost all of the leased EV1 vehicles and destroyed them. The few that survived had the control units and batteries removed before they were handed out to museums and universities, according to Smithsonian Magazine.