Just finished watching the 90-minute documentary film "Who Killed the Electric Car?" Fascinating, and infuriating. GM had a viable electric car, with avid and devoted users. It could have revolutionized the car industry and helped break our dependence on foreign oil.
But they killed it. In fact, they apparently never wanted it to succeed. The 800 cars, called the EVI (Electric Vehicle 1), were only leased, never sold. When the leases expired, GM collected the cars--over the objections of the owners, who loved their EV1s, which were still running great. They hauled the cars away, and had them crushed. Destroyed the evidence of their own success.
And now GM wants a bail-out.
So who did kill the electric car? The film scatters blame around. GM played the largest role in killing it. Oil companies did their part. So did the Bush Administration, which has always been in the pocket of Big Oil (just one more way Bush has severely damaged my country). Consumers helped kill it, too.
The film made some real interesting points I hadn't thought about before.
Car companies, like GM, make huge profits from car repairs and part replacement. The EV1 had few parts, and required practically no maintenance. Consider that it didn't need a muffler or tailpipe--that's a multi-billion-dollar industry. Cars were charged overnight at home--no need to visit a gas station.
The EV1's limited range was due to battery capacity. But that's just technology. GM bought a controlling ownership in a company which made high-capacity batteries that would have worked great in electric cars. They later sold it all to Chevron Oil. The oil and car companies are no doubt sitting on all kinds of patents for breakthroughs which could reduce our dependence on foreign oil.
Did you know that GM killed the electric trolley system in cities throughout the country? They bought up the trolley systems and replaced them with gas-guzzling buses.
But hey--GM really has the country's best interests at heart...right? So let's bail them out.
I highly recommend "Who Killed the Electric Car?" It'll make you mad, and that's good.
One of the 3 or 4 top reasons I voted for Barack Obama is my conviction that we MUST do something about energy independence. McCain talked big, but I lacked confidence that he would follow through. But I'm hopeful about Obama. He might disappoint me, but for now, I'm hopeful.
Career-wise, I've been hanging around and writing about and cheering on churches and pastors for the past 25 years as my denomination's Communications Director.
This is a very good documentary. The most amazing part was when GM rounded up all the cars and destroyed them.
Now, just a few weeks ago, they rolled out the Chevy Volt, their next generation electric car. They are probably hoping that no one on capitol hill saw the "Electric Car" documentary, because now GM wants to position themselves as being on the cutting edge of this whole business . . .after being primarily responsible for not making it happen.