Burning Issues With The Electric Car

In late 2006, an interesting and somewhat controversial documentary was released on DVD. It was called "Who Killed the Electric Car?" and it took a look at the history and evolution of the electric car and the road blocks it has encountered in gaining a good market share.

The main subject matter of "Who Killed the Electric Car?" is the electric car that was introduced by General Motors (GM) called the EV1 back in the 1990s. It was later removed from the market despite the fact that it was well-received and functioned satisfactorily.

all electric car
"Who Killed the Electric Car" takes a look at the origins of the EV1, the marketing and promotional efforts, and the reasons for the eventual failure of the battery powered car to make a real impact on the auto market.

Some of the players in this story, with regard to the introduction of the electric motor generator in the United States, plus the organizations that were investigated for their role in, what many believe, the death of the electric motor power are: the automobile manufacturers, the United States government, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) and the oil industry.

hybrid electric car
Each of these organizations played their part in the demise of the EV1 electric car according to the makers of the all electric car documentary. The film was released to the home video market in November of 2006 by Sony Picture Home Entertainment, after it was shown in conjunction with "An Inconvenient Truth" in theaters in many markets across the US.

The film, "Who Killed the Electric Car" also looks at some of the other difficult challenges that were faced by GM in an attempt to bring the ground-breaking EV1 to the market. Some of these challenges included: battery issues with regard to recharge time, heat build up, reliability and drive time; the promise of hydrogen vehicles and the potential threat of competition; and consumers and their attitudes and habits as related to the small electric sports car.

The premise of "Who Killed the Electric Car" also focuses on some of the problems that were encountered in trying to deal with the California Air Resources Board. The mandates that they passed, negatively impacted the attempt by General Motors to widely and successfully introduce their electric car to the market.

It also looks at some of the other issues of concern at the time, such as air pollution and environmentalism, the political situation with the Middle East, as well as the growing concerns over global warming.

electric motor drive
One of the strangest turns of events that the film chronicles is the fact that GM took possession of virtually all of the EV1 cars that had been leased by consumers. They dismantled them and crushed them, claiming there was no demand for the product. However many consumers came forward and were interviewed for the documentary and showed a clear affinity for, and a desire to keep, their electric cars.

"Who Killed the Electric Car?" also explores some of the motivations, both obvious and more obscure, as to why the automobile and the oil industries worked together to squelch the advancement of the cutting edge GM EV1.