EV1: Bold and turbulent times

A glance at key dates and time frames in the life and death of the EV1 and milestone developments involving electric vehicles.

November 1987: The Sunraycer, a solar-powered precursor to the EV1, wins the inaugural World Solar Challenge, a 1,864-mile solar race across Australia. Victory prompts further collaboration among General Motors, its Hughes Aircraft subsidiary and California engineering company AeroVironment.

Jan. 3, 1990: GM CEO Roger Smith introduces the Impact concept at the Los Angeles Auto Show. It receives such a rousing response that Smith develops plans for a production electric vehicle, announced April 18.

September 1990: The California Air Resources Board enacts the first zero-emission vehicle mandate. It requires major automakers to ensure that non-polluting vehicles make up 2% of their light-duty sales in the state by 1998. The standard is later revised.

Oct. 12, 1992: A key meeting occurs between GM corporate leaders and executives with the EV1 team. It ends precisely at 5 p.m., when Vice Chairman Jack Smith tells CEO Bob Stempel: "Bob, you can't afford the program," thus crippling intentions for widespread production.

Oct. 26, 1992: Amid financial turmoil and board insurrection, Stempel resigns under pressure. Jack Smith becomes CEO and scales back the electric vehicle program.

March 27, 1996: The first EV1 is built at the Lansing Craft Centre in Michigan. It is presented to Ken Baker, who had shepherded GM's EV program from its infancy, as a birthday gift. Deliveries to customers begin Dec. 5 that year.

October 1999: The Chevrolet Triax concept debuts at the Tokyo Motor Show. A crossover with both hybrid and full-electric powertrains, it is supposed to be the EV1's successor. It never enters production.

Feb. 7, 2002: GM notifies EV1 lessees that the company wants its cars back.

July 1, 2003: Tesla Motors is incorporated by original co-founders Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning.

Late 2003: GM CEO Rick Wagoner officially ends the EV1 program. Only 1,117 were ever produced. Three years later, in an interview with Motor Trend, he describes the termination as his worst decision.

Jan. 28, 2021: GM commits to electrifying its entire light-duty vehicle lineup by 2035 and plans for its global products and operations to be carbon neutral by 2040.