The SsangYong CCR-1: An Early Korean EV Experiment

This one is a history piece rather than home-upgrade news, but it's a fun look at how far electric vehicles have come. In 1995, Korean automaker SsangYong (now known as KG Mobility) built a working electric sports car prototype called the CCR-1, with gull-wing doors and a lightweight aluminum-and-composite body. The project started in 1993, partly pushed by California's tightening rules on zero-emission vehicles, which nudged automakers worldwide to experiment with electric power.

The CCR-1 ran on a lead-acid battery pack, the technology available before today's lithium-ion batteries, and used a 37-kilowatt motor good for about 120 kilometers per hour and roughly 200 kilometers of range per charge. Engineers even worked with Hankook Tire to design low-rolling-resistance tires to squeeze out more range, since the primitive battery couldn't store much energy on its own. The car toured Korea's first Seoul Motor Show and later the Frankfurt Motor Show, but it never went into production. South Korea's 1997 financial crisis and SsangYong's 1998 acquisition by Daewoo shifted the company's focus back to SUVs and diesel vehicles.

The CCR-1 stayed a one-off prototype, but the lessons about weight, aerodynamics, and battery integration carried forward. Decades later, KG Mobility returned to electric vehicles with modern models like the Korando e-Motion and Torres EVX, built on lithium-ion technology far removed from that 1995 experiment.