Who Killed the Electric Car? (2006)

Director:

Chris Paine

Writer:

Chris Paine (writer)

Release Date:

4 August 2006 (UK)

Genre:

Documentary

Tagline:

In 1996, electric cars began to appear on roads all over California. They were quiet and fast, produced no exhaust and ran without gasoline...........Ten years later, these cars were destroyed.

Plot:

A documentary that investigates the birth and death of the electric car, as well as the role of renewable energy and sustainable living in the future.

Plot Keywords:

Car | American President | Oil Industry | California | Question In Title

Awards:

2 nominations

Cast

Martin Sheen	...	Narrator (voice)
Reverend Gadget	...	Himself (as Greg 'Gadget' Abbott)
Dave Barthmuss	...	Himself
Ed Begley Jr.	...	Himself
Jim Boyd	...	Himself
Alec N. Brooks	...	Himself
Alan Cocconi	...	Himself
John R. Dabels	...	Himself
Phyllis Diller	...	Herself
Colette Divine	...	Herself
Tom Everhart	...	Himself
David Freeman	...	Himself (as S. David Freeman)
Frank Gaffney	...	Himself (as Frank J. Gaffney Jr.)
Mel Gibson	...	Himself
Greg Hanssen	...	Himself

MPAA:

Rated PG for brief mild language.

Runtime:

92 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.75 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:PG | UK:U | Singapore:PG | Australia:PG | South Korea:All

Filming Locations:

Willow Springs International Motorsports Park, Rosamond, California, USA

Company:

Plinyminor

Trivia:

The boxy, small EV shown being crushed in the movie was the Honda EV-Plus. They, like the sleek GM EV-1, were only available for lease; several returned to Honda, and were converted into fuel cell demonstration vehicles. For a while, you were able to lease them through EV Rentals (at several Budget Rent a Car locations).

Quotes:

Narrator: A fuel cell car, powered by hydrogen made with electricity, uses three to four times more energy than a car powered by batteries.

Movie Connections:

Features "60 Minutes" (1968)

Soundtrack:

To The Edge from THE TRIANGLE

A very good documentary that put its biases up front

I'm neither a liberal or a conservative (yes, there are other options!)and while I expected to read the usual 'party lines' concerning the politics of this movie ... I was AMAZED at how many people missed the point of the movie. This wasn't, at its heart, a movie about the politics of energy. Rather, it was a human story about people who found, and even fell in love, with a preferred form of transportation, only to have it taken away from them against their will. ***CAUTION --- POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD*** I don't think what I'm about to say will spoil the movie experience, but I decided to play it safe. The most amazing part of the story, to me, concerns the quiet battle between General Motors and the EV1 lessees who wanted desperately to keep their vehicles. Why did GM take such a hard core approach? It seemed to me a more conciliatory approach would have done the embattled auto-maker a world of good. To me, that was the question that drove the story. Yes, most of the people who apparently leased one of GM's electric cars were celebrities and/or people of some measure of wealth. So what? Anyone who likes electronic gadgetry has heard the expression "early adopter," referring to those with money who purchase state-of-the-art equipment at high prices, thereby fueling the development and investment that pushes products to consumer-level pricing. GM's inability to realize this is what makes the whole story fascinating. I encourage anyone who would, to watch the movie closely, and see If this doesn't ring true. Now, having said my piece about the movie, let me throw some comments about energy policy into the fray. 1) We absolutely, positively need gas to reach a price of $5 a gallon or more. Why? Supply and demand. Only when it HURTS to drive a gas guzzler, will most of us finally get off that doomed bandwagon. 2) We had a solution to coal produced electricity in our laps twenty years ago, and a piece of Hollywood drivel ("The China Syndrome")turned us into weenies. Yes, folks, I mean nuclear power. It CAN and IS producing power safely, and environmentally soundly. Just not here in the U.S., by and large. Finally, 3) Supporting the development of electric-only cars is a viable choice. With the improvements being made in solar panel technology, I suspect a working battery-solar hybrid may be a very real option in the NEAR future. If we avoid the stupidity this movie helps us to understand.