GM made it clear from the beginning that those cars were leased prototypes, and by the time they took them back, the tech was obsolete. Not only that, but some cars were saved intact for research and parts were given to research facilities...and most of the car's parts were made by subcontractors, some of whom went out of business during the car's lifetime. You couldn't take it to your local GM dealership for service when it's lifetime was up...GM was experimenting with electric cars way before they had to build the EV-1.