Published March 20, 2012
By Philippe Crowe
Many of our readers are aware GM has been researching vehicle electrification for several years.
GM’s well-known electric vehicle effort in the 90's was the EV1, but this was not the only application of the manufacturer’s research. Another electric product was launched in 1997, with a lot less public visibility: the Chevrolet Electric S10 pickup truck.
We are not talking here about one of those homebuilt conversions we sometimes hear of. The Chevrolet Electric S10, often referred to as the S10EV, was a two years effort – 1997 and 1998 – and was a fleet exclusive. Like the EV1, these were mostly offered as a lease, but up to 60 units were sold outright.
We stumbled upon one of them in Chambersburg, PA on this government auction site. Act quickly if you always dreamed of owning one as the auction closes March 22 at 5 p.m.
This electric S10 is powered by an 85-kw, 3-phase, liquid cooled AC electric motor coupled to a lead acid battery pack. Manufactured by Delco Electronics, the 1,400 lb pack groups 27 batteries, with one being designated as an "auxiliary" cell. Charge time is approximately 2.5 hours according to the auction site, and the S10 range is around 45 miles.
Adapting the EV1 technology to this vehicle meant GM had to convert this pickup truck to front wheel drive, not keeping the original rear-wheel-drive layout of the gas-powered S10.
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