Real adventures require one thing: a bold, true frontier. It's the difference between riding "Star Tours" at Disneyland and actually strapping yourself atop a rocket and being hurled into space, or the difference between watching a movie about the western pioneers and actually covering the continent in a Conestoga.

Today, driving is rarely an adventure. Short of crashing, not much bad can happen. Run out of gas? Walk a block to the Shell station. Flat tire? Call AAA. Blow a head gasket? Use the 50,000-mile warranty. All that is thrown out the window, however, with GM's brilliant EV1 electric car now available for purchase (well, for lease) by Mr. and Mrs. America.

But just how user-friendly is this brave new world of clean-green transportation? Will you and your friends soon be trading in those gasoline-powered daily commuters for the plug-in "refueling" of the EV1?

As good as the EV1 is, when fully charged it has the equivalent energy of only about a gallon and a half of gas on board-past the point in most cars when the little fuel-gauge light flashes in panicky thirst. If the EV1 runs out of zap, it's gonna take hours to get the silent creature charged. If a tire blows, Wal-Mart doesn't stock the exotic 50-psi Michelins the EV1 requires. And if something breaks, you'd better pull into a major university's electrical engineering department. For these reasons, merely driving the EV1, as comfortable and satisfying as it is, is a true adventure.

Young Feature Editor Jeff Bartlett and not-quite-so-young Editor-at-Large John Pearley Huffman were recruited to follow up MT's driving impression of the EV1 (June '96) with a real-world adventure. The Generation X, cyberpunk Jeff and lead-footed, Oscar Madison-wannabe John each would put an EV1 through his arduous daily routine to assess its livability and answer the question that matters most: Can an electric car cut it in the real world?

Jeff''s Electric HomecomingAs the first staffer to drive the EV1 home, I inhaled all GM's available literature, searching for pearls of wisdom to ensure a successful commute. The EV1 we drove last year went only 37 conservatively driven miles (albeit through steep hills in energy-sapping cold weather)-and my one-way commute is 36. Traveling the most heavily trafficked roads in the world, passing through ganglands, and knowing that the drive typically takes an hour and a half, I had some trepidation. John patted me on the back as I left the office and asked, "Do you have your AAA card?"

Yeah, right, what would they do-jump start it?

The EV1 is more high-tech than a conventional car in virtually every way, so naturally there's no ignition key; a numbered keypad on the B-pillar unlocks the door and one on the center console starts 'er up. Once inside, I entered the five-digit vehicle code, pressed "Run," and brought the car to life, noting a slight hum from the ancillary systems. Once the dazzling display of warning lights finished their check cycle, I put the shifter into Drive and began my trip. Ignoring my desire to crank the air conditioning and pop a Kraftwerk CD into the deck, I sacrificed hedonistic comfort to squeeze every possible micro-joule from the batteries, determined not to be stranded on L.A. 's Freeways of Fear.

Driving smoothly is the key to efficiency (read: more mileage) in any vehicle, but given the current limitations, it's all-important in an electric car. So, to make my way through the 36 urban miles to my home, I was a virtual rolling roadblock, easing into the throttle with such delicacy that within the first few miles I knew I'd be late for my wife's lovingly prepared dinner. Obsessively monitoring the power usage gauge (which indicates battery draw with 10 illuminated bars ranging from zero to 100 percent), I soon mastered the feather-foot strategies needed to keep me in the desirable 40 percent and lower range. Utilizing my skillful driving techniques, I drove a heady 8.5 miles before the car indicated that 10 percent of the energy had been used. I was home-free-or so I thought. After more stop-and-go traffic, the gauge dropped down to the 80 percent mark at 11 miles. Gulp.

More than two hours of commuter traffic later, I pulled into my garage with an indicated 50 percent state of charge remaining. I conceivably could have gone to work the next day without recharging, but why risk it? I simply plugged the trunk-stored convenience charger into a 110-volt wall socket, inserted the paddle into the car's charge slot, and took advantage of the off-peak electricity rates. The EV1 instrument cluster indicated a 7.5-hour charge time, so the car would be full by the next morning. Had I actually "owned" the EV1, I would have leased the amp-champ 220-volt Magne Charger, which restores several bars of energy in an hour and brings a drained battery pack up to 100 percent within three hours.

John Goes CoastalBeyond a veiled reference to my waistline, the title "Editor-at-Large" means I don't work in Motor Trend's L.A. office, but rather I commute, when I have to, from Santa Barbara-about 100 miles up the coast. It also means there was no way I could get the EV1 home without overnighting halfway for a recharge. Therefore, I planned simply to aim the electro-wonder north and turn around when the danger bells rang.

Because its 1175 pounds of lead-acid batteries run down the EV1's spine, there isn't a lot of hiproom in the two-seat cockpit-and I've got a lot of hip. However, there's plenty of legroom, and the tiny-diameter steering wheel ensures abundant thigh space. Feeling more confident than Jeff, I turned the EV1 on and off a few times in sheer amusement at the car's dashboard-illuminating check cycle, and eventually put it in Reverse to back out of the parking space; for safety's sake, this causes the horn to pulse-beep like a muffled UPS truck. Otherwise, the EV1 is eerily near-silent in operation.

Driven like a regular car, GM's "voltswagen" is quite adept in traffic. Its 7.7-second 0-60-mph ability equals that of potent performers such as the '69 Camaro SS 350. And since the electric motor produces the same 110 pound-feet of torque at one rpm as at 7000, response is instantaneous.

With more than a half ton of batteries low in the chassis, the car is very stable and handles remarkably well despite the ultranarrow, low-rolling-resistance tires. Darting from light to light along L.A. 's bustling La Cienega Boulevard, the car would easily spurt ahead from intersections for uninterrupted lane choice. Of course, this driving style meant I was sucking amps like the Las Vegas strip, and the battery state-of-charge gauge used everything but sarcasm to get me to slow down. However, I'm a performance driver first, an environmentalist second-so I decided that while my trip up the coast may be brief, it would be without accelerative compromises.

Jeff searches for electronsYes, the EV1 could make a good daily driver. Commuting to work, running errands, or going on a local picnic, the EV1 did everything we asked of it. Despite the car's small size, the interior package shelf and deep trunk offer plenty of storage space.

The EV1 maintains no self delusions; it leaves the hauling, pulling, and long-distance chores to other vehicles. GM's marketing brains figure the EV1 will be a second or third car in most buyers' homes and in demand among those interested in high-tech equipment and the environment. EV1s will be available through select Saturn dealers, on a three-year, $480-$640/month lease.

Obviously, EV1 "ownership" isn't for everyone, but there will be those who like the statement an electric car makes. And with the EV1 being such an admirable engineering and driving exercise, why not? We were all smiles until the reality of the limited recharging infrastructure reared its ugly head.

The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power's downtown building boasts 13 public ports for electric cars, but during one juice-sapping ride we discovered that not one was compatible with the EV1. Low on energy, we plugged our portable 110-volt charger into a supplied conventional outlet to trickle in a bar (10 percent) of charge. Hey, at least parking and electricity are free for EVs at this facility.

Hard lessons continued when we broke for lunch and realized that leaving the car with the parking valet meant entrusting him with the EV1's unlocking/starting code and giving a brief lesson in the vehicle's operation. The vest-wearing misanthrope seemed cranky, so we decided to park it ourselves across the street and eat elsewhere. Over appropriately dolphin-safe tuna sandwiches, we plotted John's coastal drive for the afternoon in an identical fully charged EV1-his journey would include a stop at a McDonald's in Santa Monica that reportedly had an honest-to-goodness 220-volt Magne Charger on site. Aah, proper infrastructure at last!

John's Reality CheckMcDonald's had the charger, all right, albeit blocked by two employee cars and vandalized to the point of non-operation. After a McDonald's vanilla shake (but no "juice"), it was on to scenic Highway One toward Malibu: great beach, great scenery, great distance from our offices. All was going well as I cut and thrust through the midafternoon traffic when a glance at the energy reserves set me into a panic. Editor C. Van Tune wanted a photo of the car in dense freeway traffic, which meant backtracking about 10 miles and getting on the terminally gridlocked 405 freeway so our photographer could shoot the EV1 from an overpass. Since I'd nearly drained the thing already in 40 miles, getting back to the MT offices after the photo-op was a question of not if it would run short on power, but where.

I had to make it across Beverly Hills (about four densely packed miles) in electron-burning stop-and-go rush-hour traffic with the range meter showing only three miles left. No more Mr. Leadfoot for me; no amp would go wasted hereon.

Except for a guy who gave me the finger, my fellow Sunset Boulevard drivers were accepting of my imperceptible acceleration and slothlike terminal velocity. At the first opportunity, I turned south down a Beverly Hills' side street, employing the infamous "California roll" through stop signs. I was cheating every way I could to save charge, some methods likely crossing into illegality. (Don't try this at home, kiddies.) When appropriate, I used the Coast Down mode (the electric equivalent of engine braking) to regenerate go-juice.

On Wilshire Boulevard with six blocks left to travel, the car was drained but still ambulatory. With religious icons clenched in hand, I made it, gliding into the MT garage with the car's range gauge having just dropped from single digits to simply a horizontal line yards before the driveway. Three and a half hours on the 220-volt Magne Charger and the EV1 again would be fully loaded, but my nerves were shot and my Right Guard had failed. I wouldn't want to come that close to being stranded again after only 44 miles of travel. Until the recharging infrastructure comes up several notches in sophistication and availability, I'm sticking to gasoline.

EVI UnpluggedGeneral Motors provides a comprehensive roadside-assistance and free-maintenance program (easy to do, since no scheduled maintenance is required) as part of the EV1's proposed 36-month lease program. Thus, the company is removing as much stress and strife as possible from the user's experience, reducing the worry factor to focus strictly on whether there's enough energy to make one's destination.

As time passes, the EV1 doubtless will become more of a "real" car and less of a novelty. When the infrastructure is established and the initial Southern California and Arizona regions are fully operational, GM will expand into more areas of the Southeast and possibly overseas-in regions with not only mild climates and level terrain but also key EV1 demographic targets. Soon, lightning-quick 480-volt chargers may be installed at commercial sites to allow rapid 15-20 minute recharges, with automatic billing to your home electric bill or credit-card account.

GM admits it won't recover the EV1's $350-million development costs through the small volume of "sales," but the technology developed to reach these goals will be used in more mainstream products and will provide the basis for alternative-fuel vehicles in the future. In strict product terms, the EV1 could be compared with the similarly priced BMW Z3. Both are two-seaters, but the EV1 is quicker, has more standard equipment, more cargo space, and a NASA-level technological cachet-but the Z3 can go more than 400 miles before refueling.

Yes, the day may be here before you know it-there soon could be an electric car parked in your garage. So, think globally, act locally, and saddle up for an electrifying adventure.

TECH DATA General Motors EVI GENERAL/POWERTRAIN Body style 2-door, 2-passenger Vehicle configuration Front motor, front drive Motor configuration Three-phase AC induction Horsepower, hp @ rpm, SAE net 137 @ 7000-14,000 Torque, lb-ft @ rpm, SAE net 110 @ 1-7000 Transmission Single speed Axle ratio 10.96:1 Show All

DIMENSIONS Wheelbase, in./mm 98.9/2512 Length, in./mm 169.7/4309 Base curb weight, lb 2970 Battery capacity, kW-hr 16.2 Charge capacity, EPA city/hwy, miles 70/90 Show All

CHASSIS Suspension, f/r Short and long arm/multilink Steering Rack and pinion, power assist Brakes, f/r Discs/drums, ABS Wheels 14 x 4.5, aluminum Tires Michelin Proxima, 175/65SR14 Show All

PERFORMANCE Acceleration, 0-60, sec 7.7 Quarter mile, sec/mph 16.2/78.8 Braking, 60-0, ft 147 Skidpad, 200-ft, lateral g 0.74 Slalom, 600-ft, mph 62.0 Show All