Photos: These 1970s electric car prototypes were pure sex

Outta my dreams, into my car

In October 1973, while an oil embargo was stretching world trade relations to their limits, a handful of engineers, auto executives, and EPA officials were assembling in a hotel parking lot in Michigan. They were there, at the Ann Arbor Marriott Motor Inn, to share a vision for the future of low-emission, green driving solutions at the First Symposium on Low Pollution Power Systems Development. Sponsored by the EPA’s Office of Air and Water Programs, the symposium was one part of an air pollution study led by NATO’s Committee on the Challenges to Modern Society.

Though it would be another 35 years before electric vehicles hit the mass-market, energy crises in the 1970s and 80s had already piqued interest in alternatives to the combustion engine. Many were already looking towards a future of fossil fuel scarcity, and these prototypes ran the gamut of possible solutions, not only to oil consumption, but to the growing concern of urban air pollution.

GM showed off their experimental urban hybrids:

Lear brought their steam-powered bus:

And the “Sundancer,” an electric research vehicle developed by battery giant Exide, was on full display:

None of these prototypes ever made it onto the road, but their development marked an early milestone in the long trek towards emission-free vehicles, which today has come to partial fruition with the array of electric cars currently available. Traditionally a major hurdle has been the size and cost of batteries for electric vehicles. But the last decade has seen big advances in battery technology—much of it spurred by the relentless innovation in consumer electronics—and electric cars have finally become feasible for a small-but-growing portion of the market.

Photographs by Frank Lodge/NARA courtesy U.S. National Archives.