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If Volt debuted in 2010/11... what in the world did I drive in the late 90's?

2K views 18 replies 14 participants last post by  indyflick 
#1 ·
Ok, strange question here.

Today I was thinking back to my early university days and I was telling someone how I drove the Volt before it came out as they were demonstrating it to the engineering students at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. I didn't go to UBC, but I was visiting my girlfriend who went there. I don't remember the exact year, but we started dating senior year of highschool and graduated in '95 and we both started university that fall and dated for 2 and a half years total so it couldn't have been any later than the end of '97 to maybe early '98. That just makes no sense to me considering the car didn't debut until 2010.

I could have sworn it was named the Volt, but I could be wrong on that. What I am absolutely certain on was it was General Motors doing the demo (they were also recruiting). I'm also certain it was electric propulsion, though I'm not sure if it was BEV or hybrid. I remember being shocked as the car moved rather quickly without making a noise!

There's obviously a conflict between my memory and what we know about the Volt's appearance. So I figure either a) they had a working prototype over a decade before going to market and they felt comfortable demonstrating it to students or b) it was an EV1. The EV1 was so distinctive looking though... and I honestly can't remember anything about the look of the car which suggests to me that it didn't look all that weird (the Volt is way more conventional than the EV1).

What do you think? Or c) I'm just insane? My wife (not same girl lol) did her post grad at UBC so I suppose its *POSSIBLE* I'm remembering wrong on who I was visiting... but even that would have been 2003, which still doesn't really make sense. I haven't been back to UBC since then.
 
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#2 ·
#4 · (Edited)
#10 ·
Didn't they make an internal test version of the EV1 with some sort of range extender (possibly in a trailer)? I heard this was so they could rack up road miles faster during testing. Maybe OP saw/drove that version and heard "electric and gas" and later confused it with Volt's design.
 
#11 ·
I road around in the predecessor to the EV1 at the MREA as a young teen.

There was a Precept hybrid in the late 90's as apart of the governments 80mpg program
 
#13 ·
Prior to calling it the EV1, which started in late 1996 (got ours in Dec. 1996), they used the name "Impact". They did a trial program where people had the prototypes for a month or so to gauge interest, etc. I think the marketing people thought that "Impact" was to suggestive that bad things could happen, so it was changed to EV1 for production.

VIN # B0985
 
#14 ·
The name "Impact" definitely strikes a chord. And the timing sure fits. I wasn't much of a car guy, so maybe its unique styling didn't stand out to me at the time. The Precept mentioned above could also be it.

Weird how in my mind it was always the Volt. I was really surprised when I saw that "Generation 1" started in 2011 M.Y. because that had me thinking, "no way, I drove one years ago".

I suppose another possibility is that it wasn't any production EV at all. Maybe they had converted some random vehicle and were demonstrating it for educational/recruitment purposes?

Anyway... mystery solved as much as its going to be. Thanks.
 
#15 ·
Funny name, Impact. Not quite as good as Hummer (Elemental bait) or Nova (No Va mean's won't go in Spanish). Someone should make a tiny car and call it SUVbait or Deathtrap.
 
#16 ·
There were a number of electric test vehicles running around at that time, EV1, EcoStar and there was an AWD S10 test mule that utilised motors at all four corners. EV1 was the only one to make it to both production and "mainstream" visibility.

I remember seeing my first EV1 on SR57/SR60 near Diamond Bar. I couldn't believe how quickly that car accelerated. One second it's 2 cars behind the car I was riding in the next, it's 4 car lengths ahead of us.

I did get a ride in an Ecostar (Late 90s Ford Transit converted to electric) in around 98-99. That sucker could get up and go.
 
#17 ·
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