Five EVs We're Glad Existed - And Five We Wish Hadn't

By Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield

Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield

Contributing Writer BIO

Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield is a self-confessed petrol head. She grew up in a carless family but was able at a very early age to name cars passing her on... More

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Toyota RAV4e electric vehicle, San Francisco, March 2010

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We spend most of our time looking forward to cars like the 2011 Nissan Leaf and 2011 Chevrolet Volt hitting the streets this fall. And as many already know, these vehicles are the latest in a long line of EVs to be made around the world.

But of those vehicles which came before, which five vehicles have had an impact on the world’s impression of electric cars, and which ones have done more damage than good.

Here’s the five EVs we thing have revolutionized the EV world, and five we would rather hadn’t made it off the drawing board.

EVs We’re Glad Existed.

• 1998-2003 Toyota RAV4 EV

A veritable grand-daddy of the EV world, this vehicle remained the benchmark by which EVs were measured for many years.

Based on Toyota’s popular RAV4, the electric version offered all the creature comforts expected of any car - but powered by a pure electric drivetrain. The now legendary NiMh battery pack was placed under the car’s floor, giving the RAV4 EV as much cabin space as the gasoline model.

With a top speed of 78 mph and a range of up to 120 miles per charge, the RAV4 EV showed a whole generation that electric cars could be fun and functional.

• 1899-1914 Baker Electrics

While it won’t give you the exhilaration of a torque-filled acceleration to freeway speeds, the Baker Electric does offer a glimpse into a past where electric vehicles outnumbered gasoline ones.

With unparalleled visibility, the Baker Electric models are little more than an electric powered carriage - but as any historian will tell you - it’s good to know what went before.

Wrightspeed X1 - the electric Ariel Atom

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• 2006 Wrightspeed X1

What happens when you combine one of the fastest, most radical street-legal cars from the U.K. with two high powered motors and a battery pack capable of providing up to 1,000 horsepower?

You get an EV capable of out-accelerating virtually any gasoline powered vehicle on the planet.

Built from the minimalist Ariel Atom, the X1 is capable of 0-60 mph in 2.9 seconds and features an all-tubular chassis. But don’t expect any creature comforts. This vehicle has no doors, roof or even stereo.

But for a vehicle which is only 0.3 slower to 60 mph than the legendary Suzuki Hayabusa motorcycle, this vehicle is bound to get the blood pumping.

Crash-helmet recommended.

• 1987 GM Sunraycer

Built by GM, AeroVironment and Huges Aircraft, this solar powered car won the 1987 Solar Challenge, a race across Australia.
While it lacked luggage space and was undoubtedly rather uncomfortable to drive and cost GM a reputed $2 million to build in 1987, it’s not the vehicle itself we’re celebrating but the achievement.

Had the Sunraycer lost the Solar Challenge, we may never have seen the GM Impact. Developed as a consequence of winning the 1987 Solar Challenge, the Impact went on to influence the EV-1, GM’s infamous two-seat electric car which was sadly crushed in 2002/3

• The White Zombie

Not a production car, or even available to buy, the White Zombie is the creation of Drag-Racer John “Plasmaboy” Wayland of Portland, OR.

Converted from a 1970s Datsun, the White Zombie is the poster child for every electric-converted gasoline car in the world. Combining the very latest battery, motor and controller technology in a street-legal car the White Zombie can be spotted at Portland International Raceway, where it helps challenge the status quo of gas-powered dragsters.