It’s been a minute since we checked in on one of the most improbable restoration projects in recent memory. The crew behind The Questionable Garage YouTube channel has been restoring a rare General Motors EV1—VIN 212—purchased in late 2025 from an impound auction for the eye-watering sum of $104,000. But opportunities to buy an EV1 are rare because the cars were originally leased to customers and infamously recalled by GM when the leases expired, with most getting crushed.
That makes a restoration challenging, as it’s not like spare parts are easily obtainable (there are also significant differences between earlier and later cars under the skin). But in its latest video on the project, The Questionable Garage showed that it’s making serious progress. The team got 12-volt electrical power flowing through the car’s wiring harness, getting power to the dashboard, radio, odometer (showing 28,832 miles), and brake lights. The car also accepted its security code, a prerequisite to making it drivable once the high-voltage battery pack and motor are reconnected.
This car spent a lot of time sitting outside, so the first step was to clean decades of corrosion and grime buildup off the harness’ connectors. Most of that was done with an ultrasonic cleaner that uses vibration to shake the crud off. Everything was then mounted on a buck outside the car for testing, to make everything easier to access.
Next, the shifter panel was cleaned and reassembled, including the installation of new bulbs for the many backlit buttons on the panel, and removal of a taped-on screw seemingly intended to block the park-interlock switch as part of 212’s decommissioning process. This may have allowed the car, which was donated by GM to Clark Atlanta University, to be rolled around in neutral after its powertrain was rendered inoperable (via removal of parts like the power control module). GM may have been OK with some cars surviving as teaching aids, but it didn’t want them on the road.
What Happens When You Power Up a GM EV1 After Decades?
Seeing the disembodied instrument cluster, shifter, and Oldsmobile-sourced head unit light up is a sweet moment for anyone who likes weird and obscure cars. It’s a great sign that this EV1 might turn a wheel again one day soon—once all of these parts are reinstalled and connected with the powertrain, that is. A major upcoming hurdle will be installing EV1 software onto the new powertrain control module, sourced from an S-10 EV, to make it all work.
The EV1 is one of the greatest false starts in automotive history. GM began recalling and decommissioning them in 2003, only to unveil the Chevrolet Volt concept just four years later. One wonders how different things might have been if GM had built on the momentum of the EV1 rather than shunning it, but at least the automaker is now backing the restoration of EV1 212. Hopefully that will get this project across the line sooner rather than later.
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