Darell's EV1 video

One week before our EV1 was to be returned, I decided that I'd better capture some video of it. After the car was returned, I made my first attempt at video editing, and created this short bit of EV1 documentary. Like I said - my first attempt, done in 2003. Very few people have seen it as I only made a few DVDs for distribution early on, and then didn't think much more about it. I finally figured out how to get the video onto YouTube with reasonable resolution. Brings back memories, certainly. My daughter is well under two years old in the video. She's now 8.5 years old and still has very fond memories of that car.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LE062OfrN4&fmt=18

 

Dang it! PC isn't sending me subscription notices! I just figured that nobody loved me anymore, but then came and checked on the thread...

Yeah, no kidding! Winter did just come by for a short visit yesterday though.

More than I'm typically willing to admit. But I'm among friends here, right? I damn-near cried when I returned it. One of the problems was that I took Kyra in with me when we turned it in. She couldn't understand why we were leaving Mommy's car there, and driving away without it. She really loved that car. It was her job to charge it every evening when my wife returned from work. So between the worried questions from my daughter and the big meaning behind the simple "lease return" of this one car - it was hugely emotional for me. Shit.. I'm getting a bit misty just talking about it again here. That car stood for what could have been a SIGNIFICANT turning point in our biggest US companies. Could have been a turning point for the environment. For so many things. And now the car is recycled, and you're probably drinking a Coke out of a can made from my trunk hatch today.

Daniel for President! I thought I'd looked everywhere, and yet there it was. Have to "go advanced" to see it.

Ooh, sorry mate! I just can't stand the fact that it defaults to standard def, and the only way to force HQ is to put a link in. If you need the video again, I have it embedded in HQ on my EV1 page here:
EV page

Yeah, yeah. That's the risk with these "one take" movies. Plus, I find that people mostly think of the "gas pedal" in more figurative terms. In theory, we can't even call it a "throttle." It sure doesn't throttle anything any longer. Mostly in the EV community we just call it the "go pedal."

Yeah, that car could coast like no other. The Rav does better than any "normal" car in that regard, but nothing like the little torpedo that was the EV1. Tires rated for 55 PSI, superior aerodynamics and plenty heavy. I always wanted to see just how far it would go from 60 mph until it stopped, but could never find the proper testing road. Truly amazing how well it coasted. I sure wish today's cars (especially the Prius!) would - as default - allow no-resistance coasting with the foot off the go pedal. In the EV1 you could punch the regen on or off. The Rav has two levels of regen... or off. After about a minute of use, you realize how great it is to be able to coast. You learn to be a MUCH better driver in an EV.

Yeah. Well. Looking toward the future has not been the big 3's strong suit, has it? :sigh: That said - and this is for Malorn - Toyota did some miserable things with their EV program as well. But the bottom line? I'm still driving my Rav4EV every day. I haven't seen our EV1 since I offered to buy it for residual value in 2003.

 

BTW, if you look at the road in front of my driveway (where my daughter runs out to greet me) you'll see some long patches of rubber. That was the... uh... "test runs" for the filming. I lit them up REALLY well a couple of times. But the neighbors were fearing for the lives of their children so I toned it down to just the chirps. Damn. But that demonstrates what happens under full throttle with the traction control on. Chirping as shown in the video is all it would allow.

But there was a top-secret way to disable the TC that I learned from a little birdie. The torque off the line was just astounding. Used to love smoking Camaros onto the freeway in my goofy little George Jetson mobile. Regardless of the news section at the end stating "better than nine seconds 0-60," the lead cars like mine were capable of seven seconds to 60. The later cars were detuned a bit to save the front tires even WITH traction control.

 

Thanks, friend.

I've been reading that thread since inception, and it does not pertain to me, it seems. Yet my notices are still hit and miss. I've still not gotten a single alert for this thread - though I've checked my sub several times, and it is active. Grrr.