GM's very first electric car - the EV1

General Motors' first electric car is not the Volt. Actually the EV1 was the first modern production electric vehicle from a major automaker and also the first purpose-built electric car produced by General Motors (GM) in the United States. GM never offered the EV1 for public sale. It was only available to consumers under a lease program and was not put up for sale when the lease was up. 660 Generation One EV1s were produced for the 1997 model year, using lead acid batteries. In late 2003, GM officially canceled the EV1 program. Despite unfulfilled waiting lists and positive feedback from the lessees, GM stated that it could not sell enough of the cars to make the EV1 profitable. These cars were later crushed and destroyed.