It’s American Month here at autoevolution, a month when we pay special tribute to some of the best and most memorable automotive creations ever to come out of the USA. Many of America’s most important vehicles are well remembered and well celebrated, but not all of them.
Feast your eyes on this ultra-rare, all-electric 1957 Henney Kilowatt. An EV so far ahead of its time that it essentially went utterly ignored in its day. Nowadays, though, it’s a car that makes every other car from the period look wasteful and poorly planned out.
Sporting a bank of 12 six-volt golf cart batteries and a rear-mounted General Electric DC motor, the Kilowatt could hit a top speed of 60 mph (120 kph) and travel 60 miles ( 96 km) on a single charge. No Tesla Model S Plaid by any means, but there’s an argument to be made that the Tesla came long after the Kilowatt.
This particular example of the Kilowatt was fully restored in the early 2010s and has sat in a garage a majority of the time since then. The car displays 22,590 miles (36,355 km) on the odometer, not bad for such a rare and important car, but the restoration has eliminated any signs of age.
Everything from the electric drivetrain to the three-speed transmission to the wipers and speedometer is in perfect working order. The car features a standard three-pronged power cable that allows the user to charge the Kilowatt from a power outlet.
This genuine piece of American automotive history can be all yours via Annex Houston dealerships in Houston, Texas, for $39,500 before taxes and fees. Only a few hundred dollars less than a brand new base model Tesla Model Y. Safe to say, the Kilowatt would catch more people staring than the Model Y would.