Who Killed The Electric Car?



I also watched this movie "Who Killed The Electric Car?", because the issues surrounding it infringe on my daily work (which means I have to be careful in choosing my words). For myself, I am not particularly fond of electric cars (although hybrid cars look promising).

This film doesn't do justice to the complexity of the subject. The opinions of very few people from General Motors were included, and none from overseas motor companies. The many weaknesses of electric cars were given short shrift.

Nevertheless the most striking thing, I thought, was how difficult and withering a process it was even to get a lease for GM's EV1, and how no one ever got sold an EV1. GM did not want to sell these cars, they seemed prepared to spend billions in order not to sell them, and when they decided to stop making them, they confiscated and destroyed all of them (excepting a few museum pieces). How strange is that? GM emphatically did not want to be told what kind of car to sell by air pollution regulators who didn't know the business of selling cars.

No, there is a better documentary to be made here. This film is a start, but the subject requires a director with a taste for film noir, more like Martin Scorcese.....

Here's a portion of the imdb synopsis:

GMs started leasing small numbers of the production car, called the EV1, in 1996. Other car companies also produced electric vehicles by converting existing production models and then leased them to drivers. But the GM board of directors never really wanted the car to succeed as they didn't think they would make profit from the car. They saw losses from development costs and the virtual absence of maintenance and replacement parts which, for gas cars, bring in ongoing profits. They were worried that the popularity of the cars was growing and that other US states were considering ZEV Mandate laws which meant that they may have to convert all their cars to electric drives which represented even bigger losses.

GM initially installed poor quality Delco lead acid batteries in the EV1 and produced advertising that, it is argued, was aimed at repelling public interest.

Car companies argued that using coal for electric power would produce worse emissions than using petroleum. In the film, these arguments were dismissed as false by energy experts, due to the increased efficiency of electric cars over gas, and the ability to control emissions from power plants in ways not possible for vehicles.

The car companies then argued that they would not be able to technically and financially meet the requirements of the ZEV Mandate. Car companies, oil companies and the Federal Government sued the State of California to overturn the Mandate.

From 1999 to 2004 Alan Lloyd was chairman of CARB and he presided over changes to the ZEV Mandate. He strongly influenced the weakening of the Mandate's requirements on the automakers and gave favour to unproven hydrogen fuel cell technology in place of battery electric vehicles. Four months before these decisions were made, Alan Lloyd became Chairman of the California Fuel Cell Partnership.

The film then shows how the Federal Government and oil companies put forward hydrogen fuel cells as a better alternative to gas and battery electric cars. Interviews with two hydrogen experts gave details why fuel cell vehicles are not likely to be available for another 15-20 years, if ever, whereas battery electric technology has been rapidly improving since the mid 1990s and is cost effective now.