An Electric Vehicle's Shocking Problem
by Chris Yoder
Hello, my name is Chris, and I am addicted to oil. But there was a time I tried to do something about it: I had the opportunity to drive a much more environmentally friendly vehicle.
For six glorious years my wife and I had an electric car -- a General Motors EV1. Driving the EV1 always put a smile on my face. It always felt fresh and 'new'. It was fast and fun to drive (a little too fast -- I managed to get my only speeding ticket of the last 20 years having fun in it).
Driving the EV1 was like flying some kind of space ship: With no shifting transmission, and a faint jet-like whine in the gearset, when you dropped the accelerator peddle to the floor it felt like you were about to take off. The gauges were all digital, the glass radically curved, and you were seated low next to a tall center console.