http://insideevs.com/blast-past-1979-chrysler-etv-1/ Blast From The Past: 1979 Chrysler ETV-1 (videos) [20150516] by Jay Cole
[images http://insideevs.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/etv-1.jpg Chrysler ETV-1 http://insideevs.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/etv-1-dash.jpg You Don’t Want To Know What Happens If You Press The Big Red Button videos flash Design of the ETV-1 ] Recently, the folks over at Gas2.0 dug out some interesting old Department of Energy footage pertaining to a “New Beginning” for electric cars – circa 1976, focusing on the Chrysler ETV-1, that we figured we would pass along. Chrysler ETV-1: “The first electric test vehicle developed for US Department of Energy’s Near Term Electric Vehicle program. It is the result of two years of hard work. Two years of bringing together the best ideas of a dedicated team of scientists and engineers” The challenge: to build suitable car for “mass production in the mid-80s”. Some specs: –0-30 mph: 9 seconds -ability to maintain 50 mph up a mile long, 5% grade –passing speed of 60 mph –target range (urban driving): 75 miles – with 4 passengers -18 lead acid batteries in a Chevy Volt [pih]-like configuration -cost: $5,000 in 1976 dollars (based on production of 100,000+ cars), which translates to $22,000 USD today As we know today, this program was wildly successful and lead to the complete domination of plug-in cars that we all enjoy driving today over the traditional internal combustion products of the 70s. Or rather, the lone prototype – a 1979 model, ended up recently being sold off on ebay (as outlined in this Autoblog story) for $3,500 and the world had to wait another 30-odd years for EVs to become a reality. [© insideevs.com] http://ecomento.com/2015/05/14/1979-chrysler-etv-1-electric-car-video/ Looking back at the 1979 Chrysler ETV-1 electric car May 14, 2015 | In: Technology, Videos —Leave a Comment Cars and gasoline are inextricably intertwined. Ferdinand Porsche’s first car was electric – the 1898 Egger-Lohner electric vehicle, C.2 Phaeton or P1 for short. That car was electric not because the 22 year old Dr. Porsche was a proponent of electric power but because gasoline was unknown in most parts of the world at the time. Roll forward 80 years and you will come to a bleak time for the automobile. Twice in the 1970’s, the OPEC countries turned off the oil spigot and sent gas prices soaring. Long lines formed at the gas pumps. It was common to see gas stations closed altogether with signs reading “No Gas” hanging on the pumps. In response, the US Department of Energy urged car makers to come up with an electric car that cost less than $5,000 (about $25,000 at today’s prices). They wanted it to go from 0 to 30 mph in 9 seconds with a top speed of 65 mph and a driving range of 70 to 100 miles. Chrysler thought it had the perfect platform for the project, the ubiquitous K Car that ultimately saved the company from bankruptcy. Working with the General Electric Research and Development Center, it yanked out the gasoline engine and replaced it with an electric motor. A T-shaped bank of 18 lead acid batteries provided the power and could be recharged in just 10 hours from an ordinary 110 volt outlet. The car was called the 1979 Chrysler ETV-1 and it met all of the DOE targets. What happened next provides a clue to the electric car revolution going on today. Gas prices tumbled, just as they did at the end of 2014. The ETV-1, with its leisurely acceleration, was quickly forgotten about as Americans reignited their love affair with cubic inches and big, thirsty cars. By the end of the 20th century, the average car weighed 50% more than those small, relatively efficient cars of the 70’s. Despite its low tech nature, the ETV-1 is clearly a cousin of today’s electric cars, many of which have T shaped battery packs and need 8-10 hours to recharge. Electronic battery managements systems and lithium ion technology have transformed electric cars from plodding transportation modules to land based rocket ships that can blast their way to 60 mph in a tick over 3 seconds. But they all can trace their lineage back to the lowly ETV-1. Whatever happened to this bit of automotive history? It wound up on eBay in January, 2014 and was sold for a paltry $3,554. It needs a complete (and expensive) restoration after languishing in a barn for many years. Chances are it will never see the light of day again. With gas prices again hovering near historic lows, public ardor for electric cars seems to have cooled lately. Were it not for government mandates and incentives in most countries, interest in electric cars might disappear entirely – at least until the next gas crisis hits. [© ecomento.com] ... https://www.google.com/search?q=Chrysler+ETV-1&tbm=isch Chrysler ETV-1 images [dated] http://www.ecomagination.com/electric-cars-the-early-years-ges-1976-prototype-ev Electric Cars, The Early Years: GE's 1970s Prototype EV0 Matthew Van Dusen | Sun Jul 15 2012 | [image http://files.ecomagination.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/etv1-article.jpg Top image: The ETV-1 on display. Courtesy U.S. Department of Energy ] “The quest to develop a practical electric car is one of the nation’s most challenging problems.” It’s a statement that could have been issued by the Department of Energy yesterday (though, in fact, there are plenty of practical electric cars now, it’s adoption that’s the big challenge.) But it actually comes from the script of a late seventies government film reel, recently digitized by the Schenectady Museum, trumpeting a GE-led project to build a prototype subcompact called Electric Test Vehicle 1, or ETV-1. Other EVs came before it, but ETV-1 was the first modern electric vehicle designed from the ground up. The project partnered the GE Research and Development Center (now GE Global Research), in Niskayuna, N.Y., with Chrysler and others to build an electric car that would be ready for mass production by the mid-1980s and would cost $5,000 in 1975 dollars, or about $21,000 in 2012 dollars. The ETV-1 had to meet milestones set out by the Energy Department: - accelerating from 0-30 miles per hour in nine seconds - a top speed of 65 mph - maintaining 50 mph up a 5 percent grade for a mile While the vehicle’s design, the computers and the brown synthetic clothing are all bracingly retro, automakers are still using engineering that echoes the ETV-1 almost 40 years later. ETV-1 used regenerative braking, a standard feature in today’s hybrids and EVs, and featured a T-shaped battery configuration, just as the Chevy Volt does. The car was also capable of traveling 70 miles in an “urban driving cycle” and 100 miles at 45 mph. GE is still working to speed the adoption of EVs through charging infrastructure like the WattStation and by purchasing thousands of EVs for its fleet and fleet customers. But these videos show the depth of the company’s commitment to electrifying the automobile. [© ecomagination.com] ... [video www.youtube.com/watch?v=qU63jI8kFsY Chrysler Electric Car ETV 1 - 16:39 Feb 11, 2015 - 17 min - Uploaded by timabla My dad was always proud of having worked on the Electric Car project (named ETV-1) at ... ] ... http://gas2.org/2014/01/28/ebay-find-1979-chrysler-etv-1-concept/ eBay Find: The 1979 Chrysler ETV-1 Concept January 28th, 2014 by Christopher DeMorro ... http://www.ebay.com/itm/Cars-Trucks-Test-Category-ETV-1-electric/181307757847 Chrysler ETV-1 Prototype pih car (sold) ... http://www.autoblog.com/photos/1979-chrysler-etv-1-prototype/ 1979 Chrysler ETV-1 Prototype Jan 27, 2014 (images) For EVLN posts use: http://evdl.org/evln/ {brucedp.150m.com} -- View this message in context: http://electric-vehicle-discussion-list.413529.n4.nabble.com/Chrysler-ETV-1-plugin-in-1979-v-tp4675700.html Sent from the Electric Vehicle Discussion List mailing list archive at Nabble.com. _______________________________________________ UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org For EV drag racing discussion, please use NEDRA (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA)
