I’m what you might call an “elder” millennial. We’re the kids who were born in the early-mid ’80s—not quite old enough to be Gen X, old enough to remember the days of land lines and cassette tapes. And like many of my contemporaries, I grew up riding in the back of a minivan.

Technically, I grew up riding in the back of two minivans. Both were Mopars—a late-’80s Plymouth and a 1994 Dodge—and neither was what you’d call flawless. The Voyager was fine, though it had a four-banger and no air bags, so we didn’t keep it long enough for it to fall apart on us; we upgraded to the Caravan. That one had the Mitsubishi V6, and it was kind enough to wait until it had about 100,000 miles on the odo before it really started falling apart on us. That happened just in time for me to leave for college. Guess what I drove there.

By that point, that Caravan was a hot mess, both literally and figuratively. The AC wouldn’t hold a charge, the engine leaked oil from any number of orifices and the charm of its manual windows and just-adequate V6 had long worn off. But hey, I had a car. And despite its flaws, there’s one thing I can say for that oily clunker: it never tried to hit me in the face.

Yep, that’s right. In the face. As you can see in the above clip, GM’s badge-engineered minivans of the early ’90s included a cool little design element. The trailing edges of the front doors were swept back, like the little winglets on a modern jetliner. It looked neat. It also made the top of the door much longer than the middle, where the handle was. It’s not a particularly aggressive rake, but it’s a difference of a couple of inches. You can see it from multiple angles in this retro review from our pals over at MotorWeek:

1990 Pontiac Trans Sport SE | Retro Review

It became so much of a problem that GM designed a whole new part to address the issue. It’s GM part # 10186057. Go ahead and Google it. Yep, it’s a sticker… with a printed warning that reminds passengers to be careful while shutting the door while exiting, lest they hit themselves in the face with trailing edge of the frame.

I feel compelled to point out that GM’s ad campaign for the Oldsmobile Silhouette included a boast about the company’s industrial design prowess. I believe that’s what you call irony—and I’d know, after all. Half my friends are Gen X. They invented irony; just ask ’em.

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In October, we shared news that all lovers of weird, forgotten cars were buzzing about: That someone had purchased a General Motors EV1 from a court order sale for the eye-watering sum of $104,000 with the intention of giving it a full restoration. If you know about the EV1, you know why this was such a huge deal: GM never sold these cars; they were leased to owners during the two model years they were built, 1997 and 1999, recalled back to the company starting in 2003, and then most were unceremoniously crushed. A few survived, however, like this one—VIN 212—and GM has even agreed to participate in its restoration. What’s going on?

YouTube channel Questionable Garage is documenting every step of the restoration journey. (They’re not to be confused with the other YouTube channel that initially made waves with this car; it appears multiple channels may be participating in #212’s rebirth.) The news got GM’s attention, which led to an invitation to visit the company’s Global Technical Center in Warren, Michigan, to check out some of its other important EV landmarks throughout history and chat with GM President Mark Reuss.

We, like many, have been curious about the change in corporate tune. Sure, EVs are now a part of GM’s core brand in a way they obviously were not 20 years ago. Yet, even in the days of the Volt, and then the Bolt—and even though the EV1 was an achievement you’d reckon any brand should be proud of—the automaker has rarely gone out of its way to acknowledge it. It’s with these thoughts swirling that I put the question to the company: What inspired the decision to get involved now? Here was the PR team’s official answer:

“We’re proud to support this project and excited to watch it unfold. The EV1 represents an important chapter in electric vehicle history and in the broader evolution of EVs. Supporting the restoration of V212 reflects our commitment to preserving that legacy and recognizing the engineers, designers and innovators who helped pioneer early electric mobility. When we saw the passion that Billy, Jared and the Questionable Garage team were bringing to this restoration, it felt like exactly the right moment to lean in, because the spirit of innovation that drove EV1 is the same spirit driving our EVs today.”

That response, while refreshing and coming in with the right attitude, doesn’t necessarily explain the change in heart. But we have a little more insight. A source with knowledge of the situation told The Drive that “New leadership over in marketing and communications had a lightbulb moment and convinced Mark Reuss it was a good opportunity to tout history. The old regime wanted to bury it and never wanted to talk about it.”

GM reached out to The Drive and provided a follow up statement after this story went live noting, “GM has a dozen EV models available today and has repeatedly stated its commitment to an all electric future. EV1 212’s auction – something that’s never happened before – came at a perfect time for us to show what GM is all about. Far from having to be convinced, Mark Reuss was thrilled from the outset to be part of this docuseries and to have the opportunity to share GM’s history.”

Another individual, formerly involved with the EV1 project, told us that they didn’t expect the sudden about-face.

“I was as surprised as anyone, not only did all this happen, but then GM published it on their own page,” they said.

This person noted that EV1 communities on Facebook and Discord are “going nuts,” especially given the timing of this, around the 30th anniversary of the car’s production start and 20th anniversary of the documentary Who Killed the Electric Car? They offered another tidbit to really couch the massive shift in strategy.

“Historically, when Western Washington University brought a donor car to an event, GM threatened to take away the car,” they added.

The latest episode of Questionable Garage’s series begins with the Reuss interview. I won’t spoil it—you should go listen to the whole thing yourself—but Jared, the channel’s host, and Billy, the EV1’s owner, start by asking Reuss why he’s so interested in their project.

The executive mentions a personal attachment to the EV1 because his father was involved in its creation, and says that he’s wanted to rescue random examples that have popped up in the past. He also centers on one piece of paperwork Jared and Billy came across during the sale. In Reuss’s words:

“One of the coolest moments in the show for me, because I had never seen it, was the actual sheet of paper that went with those cars we donated, which—I didn’t know that. It says, ‘We will not ever help you get one back on the road, we won’t help you do this, we won’t help you do that.’ It’s like, wow, this is a company that wasn’t really fired up to continue anything around this, we’re gonna have to scrap ’em, right? And so it was—I get it from a legal standpoint. But that was really what drew me into it.”

Later on, Reuss does reflect on regulations and the perception of GM in light of the EV1 saga. It isn’t exactly revelatory, but that’s kind of how this was always destined to go, the moment that GM finally decided to stop publicly disowning the car.

What took them so long to come around? Maybe there was some shame. Maybe it was the simple awkwardness of not knowing how to broach the topic—not knowing how to send such a message, after the seemingly extreme lengths decision-makers chose to go to burn away that part of the company’s legacy decades earlier. Those are only guesses, of course, and maybe one day, better answers will prove them out or debunk them. For what it’s worth, former GM CEO Rick Wagoner did once consider killing the EV1 project his worst decision. “It didn’t affect profitability, but it did affect image,” he told MotorTrend already in 2006.

What we do know is that Reuss and company are committed to doing what they can to assist #212’s restoration. “Whatever you need, we’ll help. We will,” GM’s president says near the end of the interview. “And if we can’t, we’ll tell you we can’t. But it won’t be because we don’t want to—we might have the same problem you do,” speaking to the challenge of resurrecting a car with antiquated, highly specialized electronics and software. It seems that at least the guys were able to source the windshield and quarter glass they needed from GM, which, in itself, is a monumental assist for the preservation of the only EV1 ever legally sold.

Note–This story was updated with an additional statement from General Motors

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There’s a clever choice at the heart of every “Ultium”-powered General Motors EV. Whether it’s a big honkin’ GMC Hummer EV or an affordable, base-model Chevy Equinox EV, all of the General’s electric products rely on the same foundational pillar: The same basic cells, arranged into 24-cell modules. All of them, that is, except the new Bolt. And it’s also the one with the best 10-80% charge time.

Coincidence? Not quite. The explanation requires some basic knowledge of battery packs, a little bit of chemistry, and a dash of geopolitics.

Let’s get into it.

The Module Approach

There’s a key reason why many EVs are expensive. Economies of scale just haven’t kicked in as they have for gas cars. Over 100-plus years of building dino-burners, we’ve gotten pretty good at every individual part. There are plenty of firms that can build fuel pumps, turbochargers, alternators, and radiators at scale, leveraging hundreds of thousand-unit volumes to drive per-unit costs down. 

This is the backbone of every Ultium pack, a 103-amp-hour cell. These are arranged in 24-cell modules, which make up the basis of all GM-built packs.

Photo by: General Motors

With EVs, automakers are having to build that whole supply chain for scratch. It’s a lot harder to find a supplier to build an automotive-grade DC-to-DC converter than it is to find a fuel pump supplier, because only one of those technologies was in demand a decade ago. For most of these components, it’s not an issue, as the supply base has built up. But the biggest cost and the biggest challenge is the battery.

Automotive-grade batteries are highly specialized, and they’re not one-size fits all. But at the same time, the more of any one single product you build, the more you can drive down costs with economies of scale. So if you can’t use the same pack for every car, as different vehicles have different range demands, and you still want to offer a variety of models, you’re in a pinch. How do you build a variety of batteries without decimating your economies of scale?

For GM, the answer was to make everything common on the sub-pack level. Each pack is built from the same core components: A 103 amp-hour cell, arranged into 24-cell modules that run at 29 volts. Using that core building block, GM can build a variety of packs. The ones in the Chevy Equinox EV, Blazer EV LT, and Optiq are 10-module, 85 kilowatt-hour packs, while the Cadillac Lyriq and Blazer EV SS get 12-module, 102 kWh packs. Step up to the big-dog trims of the Hummer EV and Chevy Silverado EV and you get 24 modules, or 205 kWh of power. 

It’s tough to make a cell that works equally well in giant Hummers and everyday Chevy crossovers. GM did a good job of balancing these requirements, but there’s still a core compromise at work.

Photo by: GMC

The Voltage Problem

If you know how batteries work, though, you can already see the problem. The core cells that make up large automotive batteries don’t run at 400 volts or 800 volts. They run, in this case, at between 3.6 and 4.2 volts, as Motor1 explained in an excellent deep dive. Getting higher voltages requires wiring all of these batteries together to raise the pack’s overall peak voltage.

But do the back-of-the-napkin math yourself: With cars like the Equinox EV and Blazer EV getting 10 modules, each with a nominal voltage of 29 volts, that puts the overall pack voltage at around 290 volts. This explains why both vehicles have a pretty excruciating charge curve. While both peak at 150 kW, to get 150 kW out of such a low voltage requires over 500 amps—because charging power (kW) equals voltage times current (amps). Since existing 150-kW charger designs can’t actually output that much current, you need to find a 250- or 350-kW charger to get the peak number. 

The Blazer EV is a solid EV, but it doesn’t have a great charging curve.

Photo by: Suvrat Kothari

Even if you do, the 10-80% sprint takes a lethargic 40 minutes in a best-case scenario. And while larger GM packs can peak at higher rates—the Silverado EV can charge at up to 350 kW—their gargantuan size slows the process. That means the little Bolt, with its 65 kWh battery, is the charging champ. It charges from 10-80% in 26 minutes.

So why doesn’t the Bolt have this problem?

A New LFP Pack, Straight From China

Because despite using the broader Ultium architecture and software stack, the Bolt doesn’t use an Ultium battery. Instead it gets GM’s first lithium-iron-phosphate (LFP) pack. LFP batteries are cheaper, more durable, and last longer than nickel-mangnanese-cobalt batteries, which power all other Ultium cars. And because this pack didn’t have to use GM’s modular approach, the Chinese supplier was able to give it a nominal voltage that’s a lot closer to 400.

That means it can peak at 150 kilowatts from a relatively low state of charge and hold high charge speeds for a long time. It’s got a big, meaty charge curve that allows it to fill up quicker than other cheap EVs, like the base-model Ford Mustang Mach-E and Volkswagen ID.4.

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Source: Mack Hogan/InsideEVs

With that, GM turned the Bolt’s greatest weakness into a major strength. While the old one had painful, hourlong charging stops on road trips, the new one will get you back on the road faster than even a Tesla Model Y or Rivian R2—at least when it comes to going from 10-80%. 

It’s a huge improvement. But there’s one major catch to the new Bolt. To learn what it is, check out my full first drive here. 

Contact the author: Mack.Hogan@insideevs.com