The Story of a Failed Breakthrough

Who Killed The Electric Car? (4.5/5 stars)

This documentary details the history of the electric car, from the original versions created early in the century (but lost out to gas-powered cars) up until the newer versions released starting in 1996. Now these cars have vanished from the marketplace and are impossible to get. When they create zero emissions, and are cheaper to maintain than a gasoline car, why is this so?

After a brief history of earlier in the century, the movie really begins with the re-emergence of the electric car, starting with the first version created by General Motors (and eventually other manufacturers followed their lead), and its eventual downfall. The movie clearly has a motive, the electric car was a good thing, and it should not have disappeared the way it did. Who is guilty of making it disappear?

There are many culprits to blame: car companies, oil companies, the government, a California regulatory board (which had much to do with the electric car due to a failed law which would have required a certain number of cars to be zero emission vehicles), consumers and their fear of the product, and finally false hopes of a different alternative (the hydrogen fuel cell car) which is far from being ready for mass production usage, while the electric car could be ready right now.

The movie details each of these organizations and their roles in the emergence and disapperance of the vehicle. The car companies behavior is particularly shocking, as they simultaneously promoted and actually attacked their own product at the same time. The oil companies have obvious motives against it, but why would the US government and a California regulatory board with interest in lowering emissions actually play an active role in making this alternative fuel choice disappear? One really horrifying aspect shown is the limited lease options used by the car companies when selling these electric cars, so that even when people wanted to keep their product they actually would actually refuse to renew leases, thus forcing people to give up their electric car or else face what basically amounts to car theft charges. Also manufacturing was deliberately limited, marketing sabotaged, and the information about the demand for the product summarily distorted and hidden.

It is quite baffling really. Especially if you consider which automobile companies are the ones making the real money now. Is it the American companies, who have resisted fuel efficiency at every turn? No, it is the Japanese cars that are really succeeding now, due to ever increasing gas prices and demand for the hybrid products. It is no wonder that GM is in deep trouble, their tactics on the electric car and also hybrid cars (American companies actually developed them first, but never got around to releasing them, while the Japanese followed in development worried about being behind in the marketplace and eventually took the lead), followed by other American car companies, have left them all producing gigantic unnecessary gas guzzlers which people are increasingly starting to avoid.

The movie also makes a point about debunking of some of the criticism against the product itself. People are afraid of this vehicle because it has a limited milege range, what if they want to drive farther? But battery technology has improved much over the years and could support as much as 300 miles in between charges. The average American drives approximately a little less than 30 miles per day.

Even though this product is gone and not likely to come back in its former form, there is some hope for the future. There are already prototypes of hybrid cars which rely on recharging and on even less and less gasoline. Perhaps the natural course of things will be for hybrids to eventually completely evolve into electric powered ones. And by then, battery technology can only get better and the cars will be able to go ever farther distances than they can now. I sure hope so, for the environment's sake.