Driving the future, then and now: the story of the EV1

When a battered, sun-bleached EV turned up at a Georgia impound lot and sold at auction for more than $100,000, it set off something unexpected: a restoration project that has brought YouTube creators and GM team members together – and reignited a conversation about what it means to build the future of transportation.

The car was a GM EV1, the first modern electric vehicle from General Motors, something that had never been auctioned before. A private collector scooped up the little green EV, and in collaboration with YouTube channel Questionable Garage, kicked off an ambitious restoration. Today, GM confirmed that it is aiding Questionable Garage’s restoration to preserve a piece of pioneering technology and celebrate the 30th anniversary of this remarkable EV.

Before the EV1: GM’s long electric history

The GM EV1 was not GM’s first electric vehicle. In the early 20th century – a time when EVs were surprisingly commonplace – GM sold electric trucks. Starting in the 1960s, the company experimented with various EV projects, and by the end of the century, it was increasingly clear that electrification would play a huge part in our future. In 1990, GM debuted the Impact concept, previewing a revolutionary electric car. 

Over the course of the 1990s, GM developed the Impact into the EV1, a car that first reached lessors in 1997. GM leased around 1,000 EV1s built at a special facility in Lansing, Michigan.

A pioneering program — and a lasting legacy

The GM EV1 remains one of the most important vehicles in automotive history. Introduced in 1997, it was the first modern mass-produced, purpose-built electric vehicle from a major automaker; not a conversion, not a concept, but a car designed from the ground up to run on electricity.

The program was pioneering in every sense. In addition to electric propulsion, it represented an extreme dedication to aerodynamics and even featured an antenna embedded under the roof panel. The EV1 was never sold – only leased – and later recalled, leaving only a handful of non-drivable examples in museums and universities. For years, it existed more as a symbol than a machine: proof that GM had imagined an electric future decades before the rest of the industry caught up.

But the EV1’s legacy remains. The EV1 became a platform to pioneer new technologies, laying the groundwork for features that would become commonplace in today’s cutting-edge EVs.

• Heat pump: The EV1 was the first vehicle to use a heat pump for climate control, boosting energy efficiency. Today, every GM EV features a heat pump, both for climate control and battery-temperature management.
• Advanced braking system: The EV1 used a mix of conventional hydraulic brakes and regenerative braking from the electric motor to slow the car. Engineers developed a system for the car that translated a driver’s brake-pedal input into an electronic signal that blended regenerative and friction braking. It’s a precursor to the braking systems used in GM’s modern EVs, which also add One-Pedal Driving¹ and paddle-actuated Regen-On-Demand² capability.
• “By-wire” controls: For decades, every control in a car was mechanically actuated. With the EV1, the accelerator pedal, brake pedal, parking brake, and gear selector were all fully electronic. The power steering was also electro-hydraulic, a predecessor to today’s fully electric power-assist systems.
• Low-rolling-resistance tires: To help maximize range from the battery pack, EV1 engineers worked with a supplier to develop new, more-efficient tires.
• Aluminum space frame chassis: Rather than using a conventional steel structure, EV1 engineers chose a unique aluminum space frame to save weight, helping to increase range. Today’s Chevrolet Corvette uses a similar design.

A once-in-a-lifetime find

The green car, VIN 212, slipped through the cracks and ended up at an impound lot last year. Enthusiasts scrambled to take part in what would be the first public sale of an EV1, and the car sold for more than $100,000.

Billy Caruso, the private enthusiast who acquired EV1 VIN 212 at auction, worked with his father Big Mike, enthusiasts Daren and Freddie Murrer, and Jared Pink, founder of Questionable Garage – a YouTube-based workshop known for deep, engineering-forward restorations. The group originally came together to restore a Chevrolet S-10 electric, a vehicle that shares drivetrain technology with the EV1. Together, they launched “Project V212,” an independent restoration with a clear, ambitious goal: return this EV1 to driving condition and public visibility in time for the 30th anniversary in November 2026.

When Questionable Garage started publishing videos of its restoration, GM President Mark Reuss was watching.

An invitation to Warren, Michigan

Reuss and GM decided to help, inviting the Questionable Garage team to the company’s Global Technical Center in Warren, Michigan to pick up parts necessary for the project, which were carefully disassembled from a donor EV1, by GM’s design fabrication team.

In Michigan, the Questionable Garage team also had a full geek-out with some of the engineers and program managers who worked on the EV1 originally. The visit included on-camera conversations with GM Heritage Center experts Adam King and Kevin Kirbitz, who walked the team through heritage vehicles that led to the EV1 – including the Electrovair II, the Sunraycer solar race car, and the Impact concept. GM techs also showed off their own EV1 project, a recommissioning of a very special example, EV1 #1.

They also had a battery evolution walkthrough with two of the people helping to define GM’s EV future, Kurt Kelty and Andy Oury. The visit also featured a cameo from Reuss, who assisted the Questionable Garage crew across campus to pick up their parts.

What the EV1 started — and where we are today

The EV1 didn’t just prove that an electric car could be built. It proved that GM was willing to take the risk of building one, and that the engineering lessons from that bet would compound over the decades that followed. As the key message from GM’s team puts it: “EV1 set in motion everything we’re doing in electric right now.”

Today, GM offers the industry’s widest range of EVs, spanning Chevrolet, GMC, and Cadillac.

GM is pioneering next-generation battery chemistries like lithium manganese rich (LMR) technology, building out a coast-to-coast public charging network through collaborations with EVgo, Pilot, ChargePoint, and IONNA, and advancing Vehicle-To-Home (V2H) and Vehicle-To-Grid (V2G) technologies that turn EVs into energy assets for homes and communities.

The EV1 wasn’t a detour. It started a journey that’s 30 years and counting…