quote:

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California is full of car crazies, of course. This one had read an article I'd written for Wired magazine about a hydrogen-powered car GM is hoping to introduce in about a decade. "Hydrogen isn't the thing," the man had said on the phone. "Plug-in is the thing.

"GM has a great one on the road right now, and they're killing the project."

[...]

"Drive it all you want; the codes are on the dashboard," the man said, jogging backward toward his car. "Let anybody drive it who wants to. I want as many people mad at GM as possible. You can wreck it, for all I care, because General Motors is taking it back in December and going to crush it, along with all the others."

[...]

One drive and it's hard not be completely hooked. The EV1 is silent, stylish, and terrific fun to drive.

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If GM could earn money on the EV1 through mass production, they would. The reason they're canning the car isn't because they're evil anti-environmentalists or because they're in the pockets of big oil. They'd love to be able to see a return on the extensive investment they've made into the EV1's technology.