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Salem Press

The 1990s in America

Electric car

by Mark Rich

Definition An automobile using battery-stored energy and electric motor

The 1990’s saw a resurgence of interest in electric car development, leading to the appearance of several important new electric cars from both minor and major manufacturers, and the debut of the first economically viable hybrid gas-electric car.

Despite the last major electric car introduction having taken place over fifteen years before, major automobile manufacturers as well as small independent companies put unprecedented energy into introducing new electric vehicles starting in 1990.

General Motors’ electric car, the EV1, was introduced in 1996 in California and Arizona as a lease-only vehicle.

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Legislation helped to spur the renewed interest, although one of the most important legislative acts was not national but restricted to a single state. California in 1990 established its zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) mandate. The mandate required that 2 percent of vehicles in the state be ZEVs by 1998, with the level to rise to 10 percent by 2003. Most vehicles considered ZEVs by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) were electric.

While limited to the state, California’s role as a trendsetter encouraged larger automakers to consider production of electric vehicles as a serious option. General Motors (GM) soon unveiled a production version of an electric car named Impact, already in planning in the late 1980’s.

Other legislative and regulatory actions gave the electric car idea new viability. The federal Clean Air Act of 1990, which made auto emissions a matter of official public concern, was followed by the Energy Policy Act of 1992. The Partnership for a New Generation of Vehicles was also forged between the “Big Three” automobile manufacturers— Ford, Chrysler, and GM—and the U.S. Department of Energy.

In 1993, while planning production of the Impact (renamed EV1), GM estimated it would take a quarter of a year to collect names of five thousand people interested in the car. Instead, the process took one week. Production formally began three years later. Despite its early start, GM was not first to produce the new generation of electric passenger cars. Renaissance Cars began production of the Tropica in 1995, with a top speed of 60 miles per hour (mph) and a driving range of 50 miles, carrying two adults. After a first, small production, unfortunately, the company failed to find funding to continue.

Performance Achievements

Alongside the manufacturers of new, made-from-scratch models, several companies specialized in the electric conversion of standard gasoline-powered vehicles. These included U.S. Electricar and Solectria Corporation. Major manufacturers also took this route, with Ford producing an electric version of its Ford Ranger small pickup truck, and GM, an electric version of its Chevrolet S-10 pickup. The electric cars produced during this period were essentially handmade vehicles, produced in relatively small numbers.

As important as the actual production of models was the revitalization of research efforts. These included the formation of the Calstart incubator for electric vehicle research, based in Alameda, California, in 1996. Another important galvanizing influence was the American Tour de Sol, a race sponsored by the Northeast Sustainable Energy Association throughout the decade. In 1999, Solectria celebrated its long run of first-place finishes with its Solectria Force electric sedan, with a driving range of 142 miles on a single charge. It competed in a field of some fifty vehicles, including electric cars manufactured by Ford, DaimlerChrysler, and Toyota.

The Solectria winner was powered by a nickel-metal hydride battery, which was in widespread use in electric vehicles by late in the decade. Three of the electric vehicles available in 1998, for instance—the Toyota RAV4 sport utility, the Honda EV Plus sedan, and the Chrysler EPIC minivan—also used nickel-metal hydride packs. In contrast, GM’s two-passenger sports car, the EV1, used a lead-acid battery.

Many of these electric vehicles showed impressive performance. The GM EV1 could accelerate from 0 to 50 mph in less than 7 seconds and had a top speed of 80 mph. The electric Ford Ranger could accelerate from 0 to 50 mph in 12 seconds, had a range of 65 miles, a top speed of 75 mph, and a payload of 700 pounds.

While electric vehicles of the later decade would have met the needs of many drivers, prices ranging from $30,000 to $40,000 (in 1998 dollars) put them out of the reach of most consumers, although tax credits and incentives somewhat mitigated the situation. One of the most important developments occurred not in the United States but Japan, where in 1997 Toyota introduced the first mass-produced hybrid gas-electric vehicle. Named the Prius, it would become the standard-bearer in the hybrid market.

Impact

Although the electric car remained more dream than reality by the end of the decade, the increased attention being given to the concept, and the technological advances achieved in batteries and body design, helped make possible widespread acceptance of the hybrid vehicles that would become a significant part of the nation’s automobile fleet beginning in the first years of the next decade.

Further Reading

1 

Anderson, Judy, and Curtis D. Anderson. Electric and Hybrid Cars: A History. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland, 2005. A history providing information on electric car manufacturers and models, with discussions of technical challenges and relevant political and environmental issues. Also discusses popular reactions and contains a useful glossary.

2 

Kirsch, David A. The Electric Car and the Burden of History. New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press, 2000. A comprehensive history, especially valuable for its tracing of public attitudes through time and linking contemporary trends with those during the first major period of electric car development in the 1890’s.

3 

Larminie, James, and John Lowry. Electric Vehicle Technology Explained. Hoboken, N.J.: John Wiley & Sons, 2003. Covering not only cars but also the full range of electric vehicles, this book describes and explains in an accessible manner the basic technology involved. With case studies of specific vehicles.

4 

Taylor, Barbara E. The Lost Cord: The Storyteller’s History of the Electric Car. Columbus, Ohio: Greydon Press, 1995. Written at the height of 1990’s electric car fervor, this book tells the story of Robert Beaumont, the dynamic individual behind the 1970’s CitiCar and 1990’s Tropica.

5 

Westbrook, Michael H. The Electric Car: Development and Future of Battery, Hybrid, and Fuel-Cell Cars. Piscataway, N.J.: Institution of Electrical Engineers, 2001. In addition to general history, this study particularly focuses on the period of intense research following California’s ZEV mandate.

Citation Types

Type
Format
MLA 9th
Rich, Mark. "Electric Car." The 1990s in America, edited by Milton Berman, Salem Press, 2009. Salem Online, online.salempress.com/articleDetails.do?articleName=1990_1189.
APA 7th
Rich, M. (2009). Electric car. In M. Berman (Ed.), The 1990s in America. Salem Press. online.salempress.com.
CMOS 17th
Rich, Mark. "Electric Car." Edited by Milton Berman. The 1990s in America. Hackensack: Salem Press, 2009. Accessed October 22, 2025. online.salempress.com.