A few of GM’s electric Chevrolet S10 pickups survive

A few of GM’s electric Chevrolet S10 pickups survive

Posted on Apr 11, 2012 in Electric Vehicles by CFC 0 Comments

Remember General Motor’s EV1 electric two-seater? That one carved out a special place in automotive history. But fewer remember GM’s other electric vehicle of the 1990s, the Chevrolet S10 EV, which was bought by the Air Force and a handful of power companies.

 

Mark Williams of PickupTrucks.com pens a rememberance:

Like its EV1 cousin, the S10 EV was produced in tiny numbers – just 492 over two model years. And like the EV1, after it was canceled along with its parent program, the leased S10 EVs were recalled and destroyed when the leases expired. Why? To protect GM’s proprietary EV technology, protect against liability lawsuits (with 312 volts on board) and protect GM dealers from having to stock out-of-production EV parts. GM probably didn’t want to train technicians to service the vehicles for many years to come.

But whereas the EV1 was a lease-only program, some 60 S10 EVs were sold, and some are probably still in service.

“When some of the utilities were done with them, they put them up for sale,” says Garrett Beauregard, who worked on the EV1 and the S10 EV as an engineer before leaving GM for Phoenix-based Ecotality, where he is now senior vice president of engineering. “We had four of them owned by employees. When I came down here to interview, I was picked up in an S10 electric and driven to the office in it by the guy who would become my boss. He had personalized it with a body kit, side skirts, an air dam and aluminum wheels, and (he) lowered the suspension, so it was kind of sporty-looking.”

The S10 EV was essentially a base Chevy S10 short-bed compact pickup powered by a “detuned” EV1 electric drive system (114 horsepower, or 85 kilowatts) to help extend its range. That made the S10 EV front-wheel drive and very heavy at 4,199 pounds, yet it preserved a 951-pound payload under the 5,150-pound gross vehicle weight rating. Of that, 1,400 pounds was the 16.2-kWh lead-acid battery pack tucked between the frame rails under the bed.

To supplement its energy-efficient heat-pump air-conditioning system below 40 degrees, the S10 EV carried a diesel-fuel-fired heater to warm the battery and (secondarily) the cabin. Other differences from the EV1 included a less sophisticated regenerative braking system and its truck-capable wheels and tires. Distinguishing the electric S10s from conventional counterparts were a front air dam and a half-tonneau over the rear of the bed, both to reduce aerodynamic drag.

Another GM engineer with clear memories of the S10 EV program is Gary Insana, who was program manager in charge of the build process. “It was pretty straightforward,” he says. “We had to take out the gasoline engine, fuel system and everything else on the gasoline side, modify the chassis and put in the electric components — the motor, power electronics, heat pump, electric power steering and the large battery pack. We set up a satellite facility just outside the Shreveport, La., S10 plant and did chassis assembly there, then transported the chassis back to the main plant for final assembly.”

Read More / Source : USA Today

Tags: Chevrolet, chevy, Chevy S10 EV, Electric Car, Electric Vehicle, Electric Vehicle Charger, EV, S10 EV1