AC Propulsion cars for sale

Overview

AC Propulsion never sold cars in volume, but it may be the most consequential electric vehicle company of its generation. Its tzero prototype is the direct reason Tesla exists.

History

Founded in 1992 in San Dimas, California by Alan Cocconi, Wally Rippel and Paul Carosa, building AC-induction drivetrain systems. The AC-100 arrived in 1992 and the 150 kW AC-150 in 1994, and the company pioneered vehicle-to-grid bidirectional charging.

The tzero — Cocconi’s lithium-ion sports car — did 0–60 mph in 3.6 seconds with over 200 miles of range at a time when electric cars were assumed to be neither fast nor long-legged. Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning drove it before founding Tesla, which initially licensed AC Propulsion’s EV Power System design before developing its own. The technology also appeared in the BMW Mini E and the Toyota RAV4 EV.