Electric Vehicle Today
June 3, 2003
http://www.eintoday.com

GM Testing 60 EV1s in New York, Massachusetts

Officials with General Motors Corporation (GM) recently launched a new
three-year program that provides employees at the automaker's Global
Alternative Propulsion Center (GAPC) in Honeoye Falls, NY, and an additional
facility in Massachusetts, with its two-seat, battery-powered EV1 electric
vehicles (EV).

The company said the goal of the program, which includes more than 60 EV1s,
is to examine the operation of the vehicles during commutes of 70 miles or
less to collect data for its fuel cell vehicle (FCV) development efforts. GM
officials said researchers are studying the effect of the region's cold
weather climate on the performance of the EV1's batteries, as well as the
vehicles' electric motor controller, which is similar to that used in the
automaker's prototype FCVs.

"Obviously, there aren't a lot of [FCVs] running around yet, but with the
[EVs] you're kind of using the same drive motors and some of the
regenerative braking," said GAPC facilities manager for FCV activities Steve
McIlwaine. "We're getting a whole lot of data and durability on that
electrical drivetrain."

(ROCHESTER DEMOCRAT AND CHRONICLE: 6/3)