Saab EV-1, or Saab 900 Turbo EV-1, was developed by Saab in 1985 as a fully functional concept car, EV-1 stands for "Experimental Vehicle One".

History

It was based on the Saab 900 Turbo 16v and featured a wedge-shaped 2 + 2 sports coupé body type. The body was made of steel, and the roof was entirely made of glass. Björn Envall designed it, while Leif Mellberg did the metalwork. It incorporated amenities like a solar-powered interior cooling fan with 66 solar cells set in the glass ceiling. When the car was parked in the sunlight, this mechanism kept it cool. The front and rear bumpers (fenders) were created to absorb impacts and return to their original shape afterward. They were built of Aramid fibre reinforced composites (Twaron or Kevlar). Carbon-fibre side impact protection was included on the side doors.

Most of the parts were from the Saab 900 Turbo 16 and modified, but the seats came from a Chevrolet Corvette.The windshield is wrap-around and very deep and steeply inclined for the era, while the A-pillar has a much more vertical angle, providing excellent driver visibility.

The engine was tuned to give 285 hp (213 kW). The top speed was 270 km/h (168 mph) and 0 to 100 km/h (62 mph) acceleration took 6.9 seconds. The speedometer lights only illuminate the area around the current speed; a modified version of this feature has been incorporated as standard on later production Saab models.

The EV-1 can be seen in the background of Back to the Future Part II.