While some people really liked the EV-1; a number did not.
The EV-1 was a two-seater. The Volt is a four-seater.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Motors_EV1#EV1_drivetrain_prototypes …
The new platform was a four-passenger variant of the EV1, lengthened by 19". This design was based on an internal (GM) program for a more "marketable" EV begun during the proof of concept phase of the EV1's development. During the original EV1 R&D period, focus groups indicated one of the major market limiting factors of the original EV1 was its two seater configuration. GM investigated the possibility of making the EV1 a four seater, but ultimately determined that the increased length and weight of the four seater would reduce vehicle's already limited range to 40-50 miles - placing the first ground up electric car's performance squarely in the pack of aftermarket gas vehicle conversions. Understandably, the company elected to produce the lighter two seater design.
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The math still holds of course. They
could go with a larger battery pack. But then, they'd wind up with a car which is as expensive as the other longer-range EV's which have been announced.
As it is, many people balk at prices which have been mentioned for the Volt (i.e. 30,000-45,000.)
The EV-1 had a limited range on a charge. This scared many consumers, who were used to being able to make "road trips." If the Volt had a 200 mile range (like the Tesla roadster for example) it would
still be a limited range. Yes, I know, you could potentially recharge it in several minutes (if you had a special high-voltage recharging station) but Joe consumer tells himself, "If I run out of gas, all I need to do is carry a can of gas back to my car. What do I do if my battery pack goes flat between exits?"
The Volt has an on-board generator for that purpose (
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Motors_EV1#EV1_series_hybrid">something GM experimented with in the 4-seater EV-1 prototypes.) Once you've made that concession, why go with a 200 mile capacity? The majority of GM's potential customers don't need more than a 40 mile capacity for their daily commutes.
It becomes a series of curves. Additional range requires additional weight, additional volume for the battery pack and additional cost. Too low a "pure EV" range may mean a loss of efficiency. What's the balance point? GM seems to think it's around 40 miles (as they did with the EV-1 hybrid variants.)
Years ago, I read Lee Iococca's book. In it (among other things) he talks about the design of the Mustang, and how he managed to keep the cost down. One of the key factors was the reuse of parts. The EV-1 looked (and looks) different from every other GM car. That would mean special production lines for all of the body panels (for example.)
The Volt is just one vehicle, built on a new "platform" called "
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GM_E-Flex_platform">E-Flex." I believe that GM plans to introduce a number of vehicles based on this "E-Flex" platform (they've already introduced 3.) The EV-1's design would
not be suited to a wide variety of uses. "E-Flex" OTOH is (reportedly) using components from another platform:
http://www.popularmechanics.com/automotive/new_cars/4257460.html …
The Volt's chassis, meanwhile, was thought to offer a unique architecture developed solely for the Volt and its future E-Flex stablemates—not true. The Volt will use the next-gen "Delta" platform for small cars found underneath vehicles like the Chevy Cobalt, with a beam-type rear axle featuring coil springs and McPherson struts upfront. The internal combustion engine rides up front, as expected, but occupies only half the engine room. Much of the development for the hybrid electronics, comes from lessons GM learned from its Two-Mode hybrid program, said chief E-Flex engineer Frank Weber, also suggesting that that the Volt might share some electrical components with Two-Mode.
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Let me make a comparison. In the 1960's, NASA went to the Moon with the Saturn V. There's a
http://stason.org/TULARC/science-engineering/space/76-What-happened-to-the-saturn-v-plans.html">persistent rumor that they lost the plans to the Saturn V, and so could not build one today if they wanted to. In fact, this is not true. On the other hand, why would they want to build a Saturn V today? Technology has progressed. Lessons have been learned. So, NASA's building a new heavy lifter, and a new smaller orbital booster.
Okay, a few years ago, GM built an EV. They
could build it again. However, they learned a number of lessons from the EV-1. Doesn't it make sense to take advantage of them to build a
better/more salable vehicle today?
As it turns out, the time-critical element appears to be the lithium-ion battery pack. Even if they decided to start building EV-1's tomorrow, developing the new battery packs would
still be the critical factor (they would not be ready for use in an "EV-2.")
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