Cybertruck Who? Survivor 1997 Chevrolet Pickup EV Was So Cool, It Served in the Air Force

General Motors played with electricity in its cars long before Tesla (the company, not the genius Nikola). The corporation’s first (and only) GM-branded automobile was an EV, aptly named the EV1. While it didn’t end up very well, with nearly all the electron-powered examples produced being hastily sent to the crusher, that revolutionary vehicle spurred a more tamed idea: the Chevrolet S10 Electric.

Unlike the EV1s, which saw zero units sold (every single one was leased), the pick-up, built in a very limited number of 492 examples during 1997 and 1998, was sold to fleet customers. Around 60 of them ended up being owned by someone other than General Motors Corporation, which eventually saved them from getting recycled.

From the utility companies and government agencies that bought the S10 Electrics, some survivors passed to private hands, just like the one featured by The Questionable Garage YouTube channel. Allegedly, this example was once a military service vehicle. No, it didn’t serve as a test mule on some remote battlefield; instead, it was put to work at Dobbins Air Force Base in Marietta, Georgia.

With a price tag of $33,305 when new, the electric Chevy truck was neither affordable nor cheap or easy to use. Hence, the narrow field of prospects for it – after all, with virtually no chargers available and handy, who would have bought one?

The regular S10 served as the base for the electric version, with an array of lead-acid batteries tucked under the six-foot (1.8 meters) bed between the truck's frame rails. If that sounds oddly familiar, that’s Ford’s fault; they’ve patented a similar method for the F-150 Lightning. The electrified pick-up differed from its gasoline-powered ancestor in only a few external details: the front splitter, the "Electric" badges above the rocker panel and its lowered ground clearance.

Due to the heft of lead inside the battery modules (26 of them, each weighing 42 lbs / 19 kg), the entire cell pulled down with a mass of 1,268 lbs (575 kg). Overall, the truck amassed 4,200 lbs (1.9 tons) and had a payload of 951 lbs (431 kg). Despite its enormous size, the 312-volt battery pack was only good for 16.2 kWh. The 85-kW (114 hp) motor driving the front wheels could cover a meager 43.8 miles (70.4 km) between charges. you can check its full specs in the attached document.

Later models got a revised, energy-denser nickel-metal hydride 29-kWh battery that weighed less (1,043 lbs / 473 kg) and extended the range to 95.3 miles (153.3 km). As you might imagine, this ancient EV pick-up truck wasn’t precisely the missile that socket-suckers are known to be nowadays. The acceleration test returned a 0-50 mph (80 kph) time of 9.75 seconds at 100% state of charge and 10.35 with the battery half full.

As for maximum speed (at 50% SoC), the Chevy was a little faster than a lawnmower: 67.6 mph (108.7 kph) at the quarter-mile mark and 69.3 mph (111.5 kph) at the end of the entire mile. The poor Chevy fell just short of its performance goal of 70 mph (112.6 kph) in one mile, so drag racing was out of the question. However, a keen eye will notice the fuel filler cap on its side: it's for the diesel generator that was installed to heat the battery when temperatures dropped below 40°F (4­°C).

The example featured in the video is in excellent condition, considering its age. Still, the low mileage (7634 miles, or 12,283 km) tells it wasn’t worked hard. (No wonder, since it had to spend a lot of time charging – 5 hours and 15 minutes). However, this rescued survivor will get a significant improvement since Jared plans to install a Tesla battery pack in it (sourced from a wrecked 2017 Model S).