1997 GM EV1
Long before Elon Musk was the talk of the town with Tesla, there was the GM EV1. The EV1 was the first mass-produced electric car consumers could lease. The look and feel of the EV1 was a mixture of Saturn models in production and new design elements. The EV1 didn’t have a very far range, but it was more advanced than anything built prior (via Car & Driver).
Many controversies surrounded EV1 after it was discontinued. GM didn’t give consumers a chance to purchase the EV1 outright. Instead, the remaining models were sent to be crushed and never driven again.