EV1 lessees to GM: Don't take our cars

General Motors' EV1 has become a "gotta-have" car for a small band of California electric-car enthusiasts. But GM plans to make it a "can't-have" car.

As leases expire for the approximately 600 EV1s in operation, GM will take all the battery-powered vehicles off the road.

The thought that the EV1 will become the EV None is deeply frustrating for many EV1 drivers who cherish the cars. They've even sent earnest money to GM to extend leases or buy the cars.

But GM has returned all the checks. GM says it would cost too much money to keep EV1s on the road.

That creates an odd spectacle. GM is mounting a major product offensive to stir passion for its car lines, yet it is rebuffing an admittedly miniscule group of hyper-loyal customers.

"Many of us have written letters to GM," says EV1 lessee Michael Schwabe, owner of a Union City, Calif., engineering firm. "They just absolutely refuse. They're adamant."

Schwabe praises the EV1's quiet ride, styling, power and fuel economy with a passion that GM wants buyers to feel about its mainstream cars: "I love the car," he said. "It's going to be like having a part of myself ripped off."

Schwabe's reaction is common, says Nick Carter of Santa Rosa, Calif., president of the North Bay Chapter of the Electric Auto Association.

"I hear stories about drivers almost being in tears when they lose the car," Carter said.

GM sunk about $1 billion into the EV1 as part of its effort to meet California's zero-emissions requirement, since revised to allow auto companies to put small, golf-cart-like electric vehicles on the road. EV1 enthusiasts say that change has lessened GM's interest in the EV1.

But GM says simple economics, rather than politics, spell doom for the EV1.

"Maintaining service and parts, along with customer-service representatives, gets pretty expensive for a fleet of 600 vehicles," said GM spokesman Joe Lawrence.

If the cars were kept on the road, GM would be required to provide replacement parts for 10 years. Because many of the parts were made in a single run, GM has to cannibalize off-lease vehicles for parts, Lawrence said.

Also, trained repair technicians are scarce, and repairs are costly. Replacing a nickel-metal hydride battery costs about $30,000, he said.

GM subsidized lease rates for EV1s, Lawrence said. The vehicles were priced at $43,995, and all those on the road were leased. The lease rate was $499 per month. GM leased EV1s from 1996 through 2001.

But electric-vehicle lovers don't buy GM's explanations. Ron Freund, president of the owners' association, says the "pistonheads up in Detroit" never wanted the EV1 to succeed.

GM and its dealers would lose out on significant parts and service revenues with the simpler electric engines, he said.

Another EV1 lessee, Ellen Spertus of San Francisco, says that in June GM returned checks totaling more than $22,000 from 58 drivers who sought to extend leases. "We just think it's terrible," she said, "that they want to take away these cars that people want and are willing to pay for."