After some very good range numbers (high 70's) a few weeks ago, our mileage began dropping somewhat in the past week. A notable incident unfortunately occurred on the day we were stuck in traffic on the freeway less than mile from home (actually just a few hundred feet, in a straight line).

Our commute back from work started normally, but with a radio report of a freeway incident near our home. As we neared home, we were carefully watching the range gauge, having noticed that our remaining range estimate looked unusually low for our normal commute. Two exits from home, we decided to stay on the freeway since traffic flow seemed normal and the freeway problem report was already 20 minutes old. However about a mile from our exit, traffic came to a complete stop. The freeway had been shut down (due to police activity) one exit past our exit. Not long after this our battery warning light came on. We just BARELY made it home after being gridlocked for 20 minutes.

Finally, on 3/4 the unthinkable happened! It was a normal commute day down to Orange County with the range estimate starting a bit low (low 60's). The drive out to work was normal, but driving back, when we were about 5 miles away from home with an estimated 15 miles of range remaining, our battery capacity began dropping drastically!

We got about 2 more miles down the freeway when the warning lights came on, and by the time we pulled into a shopping center, we were in reduced performance mode.

To make a long story short, some 2-1/2 hours later we arrived home having had to wait to get the EV1 towed* the remaining 3 miles home. We subsequently learned that a battery had gone bad.

Are we really the only ones having such bad luck? Other EV1 owners tell us that they haven't had any trouble!

* Towing the EV1 was a new experience for the tow truck driver. Although he routinely towed electric cars for Southern California Edison, he found that the EV1 is difficult to hook up to and tie down on the flat-bed truck because not only does it sit low, but also the rear wheels are partially hidden behind the wheel well covers.