January 31, 2026
Lease it, love it, lose it?
EV-1 for Lease (1996)
GM’s first electric hits as lease-only — and the comments explode
TLDR: GM’s EV‑1 launched in 1996 as a lease‑only electric in three western states, sparking debate over whether that was consumer protection or corporate control. Commenters clash over costs ($500/mo ≈ $1000 today) and oil‑collusion theories, turning a historic EV debut into a modern flame war worth watching.
GM’s EV-1 — the first Big Three electric — arrived lease-only in three western states on December 5, 1996, and the comment section is a full‑blown soap opera. One camp cheers the “training wheels” approach, saying GM didn’t want to sell a brand-new tech and strand buyers if it broke. The other camp calls it a leash: a way to keep control and, as many recall, eventually take the cars back. Nostalgia pours in around Michael Schnayerson’s book The Car That Could, with readers joking it was really The Car That Could… if GM let it.
The price tag is the meme of the day: “$500/mo back then is $1000 today,” one commenter calculates, turning the EV-1 into 1996’s “Netflix for cars.” Conspiracy talk lights up: claims of GM colluding with oil swirl, while pragmatists clap back that early batteries and charging were rough and the lease kept consumers safe. Jokes fly about range anxiety (“In ’96 I had a pager, not a charger”) and the design (“a sci‑fi wedge that you couldn’t own”). It’s drama central: idealists vs realists, budget hawks vs futurists, all arguing over whether EV-1 was a cautious debut or a corporate slow‑roll of the future.
Key Points
- •Living on Earth’s Nov. 22, 1996 episode announces the EV-1 will be available for lease in three western U.S. states starting Dec. 5, 1996.
- •The EV-1 is presented as the first electric car from a Detroit Big Three automaker and will be leased rather than sold to address consumer concerns.
- •Host Steve Curwood interviews author Michael Schnayerson about his book examining the EV-1’s production.
- •Jan Nunley reports on Dutch research in Nature showing chemical-induced sex changes in fish and notes the EPA’s expected new air pollution standards covering wood stoves and diesel engines.
- •Additional segments cover green design with William McDonough, Accra’s rapid urbanization, listener letters on nursing homes, and seasonal Native food traditions with Joseph Bruchac.