In January 1990, GM chairman Roger Smith demonstrated the Impact, an electric concept car, at the 1990 Los Angeles Auto Show. The California Clean Air Act required 10 percent of all new cars sold in the state by 2003 should have exhaust-free emissions. General Motors built the Impact concept in response to the ordinance, which went into production as the EV1 in 1996.
To offset the weight of the batteries, much of the Impact's structure was made of composite materials. The fiberglass coupe recorded a drag coefficient of 0.19, the lowest in the General Motors wind tunnel. The 900-pound batteries gave the car a total weight of 2.200 pounds. Thirty-two sealed 10-volt lead-acid AC Delco units ran centrally along the length of the car, forming a transmission tunnel. The two-seat Impact was intended to be a car for short-distance driving; GM claimed the 100-mph car could accelerate from 0-60 miles per hour in eight seconds. The batteries required charging after six hours and had a range of 120 miles.
Source: Concept Car Central
Images: Concept Car Central; carculture.com
