In the era before Tesla and the Leaf, most people thought electric cars were little golf carts. Automakers and engineers had already built electric vehicles decades earlier, but their work faded into the background. In the mid-1960s, a handful of projects tested the limits of battery power at the time. They showed what was possible – and what still held them back. One machine rose above the rest. It stunned the press with its speed and its promise. It ran on a battery pack that cost more than a house. It still drew crowds when it appeared at GM’s technical campus. Yet almost no one remembers its name today.Buyers largely learned about modern EVs in the 2010s. They saw plugs in driveways and charging stations on every corner. They read headlines about electric sedans and SUVs. They did not know that half a century earlier, engineers had already built a road-legal electric car – and made it fast. It did not run on lithium-ion cells. It did not carry a hybrid badge. It ran on silver-zinc batteries and a single electric motor. It proved the concept. The 1966 Chevrolet Electrovair Was A Decent EV Even By 2000s Standards General Motors took a standard Corvair sedan and stripped out its flat-six engine. They replaced it with a 115-horsepower AC induction motor. They filled the front and rear compartments with silver-zinc batteries. Then they tested it like any new model – on the proving grounds near Detroit. The result surprised every skeptic.GM first built an electric Corvair in 1964 and called it the Electrovair I. That prototype proved the idea. Two years later, engineers refined the design. They used the second-generation Corvair Monza four-door hardtop as a base. They wired 532 volts of silver-zinc cells into a solid-state controller. They set the motor to spin up to 13,000 rpm. They named the new version the Electrovair II.Despite its experimental nature, the Electrovair II had full-power acceleration equal to the gas-engine Corvair Monza with automatic transmission. It reached 0–60 mph in about 16 seconds – only a few ticks slower than the standard Monza. It held its speed on the highway and pulled hard out of corners.Automotive Archaeology by Ran When Parked/YouTube GM never planned to sell the Electrovair II. They built it to learn how to use new battery tech. The silver-zinc cells delivered high power but wore out after roughly 100 charges. And the battery pack alone cost about $160,000 in 1966 dollars. Today, the Electrovair II lives in the GM Renaissance Center in Detroit. It wears a light metallic blue finish. It remains the oldest EV on display in a major automaker’s museum. Decades later, the Electrovair II still impresses. Its 115 hp motor and matched acceleration would not look out of place in early-2000s electric sports sedans. Its 80 mph top speed and 40–80 mile range hint at what was possible – if the cost and weight of batteries could come down. It Featured Silver-Zinc Batteries And AC Induction Motor General Motors Under the hood of the Electrovair II sat an AC induction motor rated at 115 horsepower. It used a three-phase design. The motor spun up to 13,000 rpm. That high rev limit let it deliver peak power quickly and smoothly. Power came from a 532-volt array of silver-zinc batteries. Engineers arranged 286 cells in 13 trays. Seven trays sat in the trunk. Six held space under the engine bay. This layout balanced weight and kept the Corvair’s handling lively. GM used a solid-state power controller. It had no regenerative braking. Engineers added larger drum brakes on all four wheels to handle the extra speed and weight. They also included gauges on the dash to monitor volts and amps.General Motors Charging required external equipment. The silver-zinc cells charged in about eight hours. They wore out after about 100 full cycles, though. Engineers treated each pack as disposable. They learned battery chemistry faster at that pace. At 3,400 pounds, the Electrovair II weighed about 800 pounds more than a stock Corvair. The batteries and motor added roughly 1,230 pounds to the rear-engine layout. Despite the weight, the car held the road well thanks to its solid Corvair suspension. On a single charge, the Electrovair II could travel between 40 and 80 miles. At steady 20–30 mph speeds, the range hit the upper end. High-speed runs on the highway pushed it closer to 40 miles. Fast For Its Time, Even Compared To Gas Cars Bring a Trailer The Electrovair II’s 115-horsepower AC induction motor matched – and in key moments even outpaced – the performance of its gasoline-powered Corvair counterpart. While the base 1966 Corvair Monza produced 95 hp and its top-trim models reached 140 hp, the Electrovair II delivered 115 hp at its peak. GM engineers clocked its 0–60 mph sprint in about 16 seconds, only a few seconds behind the quickest Corvairs of the era and on par with the Monza automatic’s straight-line acceleration.Instant torque gave the Electrovair II a unique edge off the line. With no multi-gear transmission to shift, it delivered a smooth, shift-free burst from a standstill. In fact, at low speeds - around 20 to 40 mph - the electric Corvair would often pull ahead of its gas-engine siblings, thanks to the motor’s flat torque curve and direct-drive setup that spun up to 13,000 rpm.All those silver-zinc batteries came at a cost in mass, though. At roughly 3,400 pounds curb weight, the Electrovair II weighed nearly 1,000 pounds more than a stock Corvair. GM countered this by distributing its 286-cell, 532-volt battery pack across 13 trays - seven in the front trunk and six under the rear engine deck - to preserve the Corvair’s characteristic rear-engine balance.Automotive Archaeology by Ran When Parked/YouTube Top speed proved the Electrovair II’s clearest weakness compared to gas cars. Limited by motor rpm and a single-speed gearbox, it could reach only about 80 mph - considerably shy of the Corvair’s 105–120 mph range. However, most U.S. highways in 1966 imposed speed limits well below that threshold, making the Electrovair II’s top speed acceptable for everyday driving. Also, that number was well above what other EVs at the time could hit.When GM revealed the Electrovair II to the press in October 1966, project manager William D. Bond himself drove the car through high-speed loops at the Technical Center. Journalists described the experience as eerie and thrilling: the only sound was tire tread on pavement, yet the car accelerated almost as briskly as its roaring-engine cousins. Bond’s live demonstrations underscored GM’s message that electric propulsion could deliver genuine performance.Even with its quirks, the Electrovair II proved electric traction could rival gasoline power – with smooth torque delivery, competitive acceleration, and credible range. It laid the groundwork for GM’s later EV programs, from the late-1980s EV1 to today’s fully electric Chevrolet lineup. In demonstrating that a true electric performance car was possible in 1966, the Electrovair II earned its place as the world’s fastest electric car of its decade - and a milestone in automotive history. It Was By Far The Most Capable EV In The 1960s American Motors Corporation Electric cars were rare in the 1960s. Or, rather, extremely rare. Close to nonexistent. Still, automakers and labs built a few test vehicles. But most remained in research centers or limited show runs. General Electric’s Delta prototype, for example, managed 55 mph and 40 mile range. Ford’s Comuta microcar topped 40 mph and covered about 40 miles per charge.American Motors’ Amitron concept promised 150 mile range with regenerative braking. It never moved past show displays, however. Meanwhile, Henney’s Kilowatt sold under 50 units. It reached 60 mph with a 60–65 mile range.By comparison, the Electrovair II combined top speed, power, and range in one package. It could hit 80 mph. It had 115 hp. It ran up to 80 miles on a charge. No other 1960s project balanced those specs so well. None was even close.GM engineers learned more in one Electrovair II prototype than in years of paper studies. They proved that mass-market EVs would need better batteries – but that the concept worked. They paved the way for future EVs by showing real-world performance was within reach.Six decades later, the Electrovair II still stands as the world’s fastest electric car of the 1960s, even though that decade wasn’t exactly full of EV developments. It held its own against gas cars. It ran farther than most classmates. It did more than any other EV of its day. And it did so in a package nearly ready for showrooms – if only the batteries had cost less and lasted longer.