One big lesson has been working with new, lightweight materials. The use of aluminum in the EV1s requires a different kind of assembly. GM says it will probably use the experience of working with aluminum in many of its future cars. The manufacture plant at Lansing is different from typical assembly plants. While traditional plants have hundreds of workers on long assembly lines, the Lansing plant has only 60 workers who build the car manually at a few stations.
Suppliers deliver almost every part, premade, to the plant floor.
The article mentions several other innovations in the car including the electronic film used to defrost windows and the unit body construction of the car. This is a real significant opportunity. EPA is developing a plan to eliminate unnecessary confidentiality claims for information reported to the agency under the Toxic Substances Control Act. Allan Abramson, director of the EPA's Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics Information Management Division said too much information received by the program is claimed to be confidential. Many of the documents have substantial portions blacked out because of claims of confidentiality, making them almost worthless to the public.