The V212 Story
The only legally privately owned GM EV1 being shared with the world.
Acquisition
On October 28, 2025, Billy successfully purchased GM EV1 #212 at a public impound auction in Atlanta, GA for $104,000 plus auction fees. V212 is one of the few surviving EV1s. The acquisition marks a major step in preserving the EV1’s legacy and sharing its story with future generations.
Restoration & the journey ahead
V212 is a restoration and preservation project. With unprecedented private access to EV1 like never before, our goal is to record and share every step: from the auction through repair, documentation, and the path to the public reveal on November 14, 2026. Updates, behind-the-scenes posts, and the full story are shared on Patreon.
GM recognition & support
For the first time ever, General Motors is actively supporting an EV1 restoration. After seeing the restoration videos, GM President Mark Reuss and the company wanted to help the V212 team preserve this piece of electric vehicle history.
In March 2026, it was revealed that GM invited the V212 team to the Global Technical Center in Warren, Michigan. There they received factory parts from a donor EV1 — V159 — carefully disassembled by GM’s design fabrication team — met with Heritage Center experts and original EV1 engineers, and toured heritage vehicles including the Electrovair II, Sunraycer, Impact concept, and EV1 #01. GM has committed to aiding the restoration through the 30th anniversary in November 2026.