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EEVC NEWSLETTER Published by the Eastern Electric Vehicle Club Peter Cleaveland, Editor Vol 30 No 11 Club Address: P.O. Box 134, Valley Forge, PA 19481-0134 NOVEMBER, 2010 email: [email protected]. Web site: www.eevc.info President: Oliver Perry, 5 Old Stagecoach Turn Shamong, NJ 08088, (609) 268-0944 Copyright © 2010, Eastern Electric Vehicle Club, all rights reserved Now affiliated with EAA THE CAR THAT COULD, REVISITED Oliver Perry Quote from Henry Ford: Before the EV-1existed, There was the “If there is any one secret of success, it lies Impact . in the ability to get the other person’s point And the Impact was reduced to a symbolic view and see things from that person’s angle as effort before it was turned back on under the well as from your own.” EV-1 banner. I feel that the “Car That Could” does a good job of helping you and I to do just that. The Scenes from “The Car that Could,” the book helps us to understand better why a pro- Impact stage. duction EV may not be as easy as some think. In 1990 and 91 GM was struggling to stop The Car That Could is a book detailing the huge losses in their North American opera- amazing and compelling story of GM’s adven- tions. GM had invested in solar and electric car ture with the EV-1, written by Michael Shnay- adventures back in the 80ties and on and off erson. Many people may not be aware that had been experimenting with electric cars. GM allowed writer Michael Shnayerson inside its Tech Center gates daily in 1992 to visit the Back in the 80s Impact (later to become the EV-1) project with The highly publicized GM Sun Raycer, built few restrictions. He tells the story as he gath- by a California company by the name of ered the information directly from those AeroVironment, outside of the auto industry , involved. With GM’s permission Shnayerson won the solar race in Australia from Darwin to was allowed to interview and observe the engi- Adelaide in record time. “The solar car lent a neers and managers working on the EV-1 pro- sheen of technology daring to a carmaker ject as it was taking place. Shnayerson was the widely viewed as stodgy. It (the solar car) only journalist at that time allowed to sit in on toured hundreds of schools before finding a nearly 300 staff meetings and share a highly permanent place in the Smithsonian Institute.” guarded secret that even many within GM (page 18) were not aware of. His book offers readers a real inside glimpse into the automaker’s world Intro the Impact and provides us with factual information A bright young engineer working on the Sun regarding the design and construction of one of Raycer project by the name of Alec Brooks, the greatest electric cars the world has ever having successfully accomplished an engineer- driven. Much of the story we have either for- ing marvel in record time, wondered if he could gotten or never learned. now convince GM to advance from the Sun Raycer to building a real electric car. The com- high-density lead acid batteries. ponents used in Sun Raycer Brooks felt could be upgraded and placed in a car that could real- Green Light From GM ly make eyes roll. “What Brooks had in mind In 1988 Brooks and a representative from was a sporty two seater built from the ground Hughes Aerospace, recently purchased by up to be lighter and more nimble than any elec- GM, traveled to Detroit to pitch their concept tric vehicle of the past.” (page 18) “Brooks, for car, referred to as Project Santana, to the top one, had no doubts about his ultimate goal: to executives. Chairman Roger Smith suggested prove that EVs of the future could not only be that the Sun Raycer had given GM all the cleaner than gas cars but in most respects bet- publicity they needed and he voted no to ter; even, some day, cheaper.” (page 19) When funding another “one of a kind” car. Several Brooks was provided an opportunity to discuss executives around him, Robert Stempel his dream with selected GM managers, his included, continued to pressure Smith to comment that he could design an electric car change his mind in the weeks that followed. that could go from 0-60 mph in 8 seconds Eventually Roger Smith agreed to fund the caused some eyes to light up. project with 3 million dollars with a 15 Brooks was then introduced to GM’s Ken month deadline. The project was to be com- Baker who had been the director of the ill- pleted in California miles away from the rust fated GM Electrovette. Baker showed genuine belt mentality of Detroit, and kept a secret. It interest in Brooks’s idea. He told Brooks why became known as Project Santana. the proposed two-seater should have front Alan Cocconi, from Cal Tech, who had wheel drive and a battery tunnel down the cen- proven himself by building the inverter in the ter rather than have the batteries concentrated Sun Raycer project, was assigned the similar in the back. Baker also agreed it was a right electronics in Project Santana. Delco-Remy decision to use lead acid batteries. All of the would handle batteries and GM’s Advanced experiments with newer types to that date had Concepts Center in Newbury, California ultimately failed to hold up in real driving con- would design the body. (In time AeroViron- ditions. Lead acid technology in theory could ment became disgusted with the GM body cause an electric car to go very fast indeed, designs and began making covert designs of and for a reasonable price. its own. When GM management learned of Bob Bish, the battery expert from Delco the squabble they laid down the order that Remy (owned by GM), later flew out to Cali- they would not support two cars.) Brooks’s fornia to meet with Brooks and his team. He demands that the aerodynamic drag coeffi- explained that watering systems for lead acid cient be similar to that of a F-16 fighter jet batteries were nothing but trouble and advised eventually forced both sides to accept a tear- against using one. For the average consumer drop shape with a belly pan. electric car batteries must be maintenance- In the battery department Bish, at Delco free. Bish advised Brooks that if he was seri- Remy, began building the denser battery that ous in developing a proof of concept EV car, he had previously suggested. The tighter the he might try a new and untried electric car bat- space between electrodes the more lead one tery using gas recombinant technology. These can pack into a battery. One of the tricks Bish were what we would today call AGMs. and his workers used to accomplish that feat Instead of using flooded acid around the plates was to freeze all of the battery components a sponge like glass and fiber mat was inserted before they put them together. After the to soak up the electrolyte. This battery no plates were put in place, with ultra narrow longer needed a space above the plates for spaces between them, the frozen mats con- gases to collect and reform. One could pack taining the electrolyte were slipped into these more lead into the box and have a denser bat- narrow spaces. The cold temperatures slowed tery. Brooks needed 900 pounds of batteries to the chemical reactions down enabling the give his concept car the acceleration and range mats to be fully inserted before chemical he wanted. Bish did a calculation and told reactions caused them to swell. This tech- Brooks that his plans only had allocated 843 nique enabled tighter spaces than normal to pounds of space even by using special build be used between the plates and led to the 2 more dense battery that the body design the final preparations for the unveiling of the required. car to the GM PR people, someone added a The pages that Shnayerson writes describ- license plate that read, “The Future is Elec- ing the helter skelter rush to build the unique tric.” The PR man in charge of the video proof of concept EV on schedule are of great crew required that the plate be removed interest to read. The engineers and builders because it made too strong of a statement. faced all kinds of unexpected problems. They That did not go over well with the team that fell behind schedule. Eventually Brooks built the car. asked for five more months time to complete The name of the proof of concept car had the car. Then suddenly out of the blue he was been Santana until GM lawyers discovered faced with board chairman Roger Smith. that the name Santana was registered to a Smith, who at first had been reluctant to fund VW model in Europe. Either Chuck Jordan, the project, had become so excited about the the GM vice president of design, or Don reports he had been reading regarding their Runkle an executive at the Tech Center in work that he wanted to have the concept car Michigan, came up with the new name, ready to reveal to the world at the upcoming Impact, supposedly for the impact it would LA car show in January. This was not a pop- have on the world. Few working on Project ular decision among many in GM. There Santana liked the name and were dismayed were fears that showing California a car that that their replacement name selections had could meet their mandate could place all of been overridden.

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