Who Killed The Electric Car?

A short detour from the world of music today so that I can heartily recommended you run out and rent Who Kill The Electric Car? Seeing Ed Begley Jr. working his booth at the Studio City farmers market yesterday morning reminded me I'd yet to see this film so I watched it later that afternoon and it exceeded all expectations.

Like any great documentary it'll make you furious. Not only did GM not offer people leasing the EV1 an option to buy, they were so scared of their own (quality) product that they crushed all the cars out in the Arizona desert (after lying and saying they would recycle 'em.)

Music content! The "theme song" for the film is Meeky Rosie's incredible track "Forever." Watch the song's video above, with footage from the film integrated:

And hey, while we're on the topic, why not think about voting for the guy with the most aggressive environmental plan.

Comments

[matt]

Amazing and frustratingly angering documentary. After seeing it it makes you hate the government, lobbyists, and big oil.....well, even more so than now.

[johnnylloydrollins]

Hey Torr,

The reason most of those cars really failed is because nobody wants shitty electric cars..

HERE is the kind of ELECTRIC CAR people want:

http://www.teslamotors.com/

Tesla motors is amazing.. the guy who runs it (elon musk) also runs the leading space exploration and aerodynamics company in the USA..spaceX.. they are way ahead of Boeing or Lockheed..He also founded Paypal! go figure.
Tesla Motors is already building plants to make cheaper $50'000 and $30,000 sedans.

They are the future...

not lame ass GM or Ford...or Toyota prius shit..

[torr]

Johnny, you're acting like a freaking moron here. Get your head out of your ass with douche bags comments like this. People loved their ev1s. People love their prius'. Its a dumbass attitudes like this which keep the country from ever moving forward.

[johnnylloydrollins]

First of all its not a douche bag comment..DID YOU EVEN GO LOOK AT TESLA? I am trying to PROMOTE electric cars man.. just not shitty electric cars!

the prius is a fucking golf cart..as was the EV1.. granted.. the EV1 was pretty fast..but everything else about it sucked.
the batteries were horrible.. that was the main problem..and they wouldnt work in changed weather conditions..especially in cold climate..

nobody wants that.. and the companies that make them didnt care about making a good product either.. or make it marketable..

my main point is the Tesla car is built with the right mindset.. low volume.. high cost.. eventually it trickles down to high volume low cost market. And you then have a serious electric car with the right public demand. Plus the battery has a self regulating climate control so it keeps its power always.

if you want people to buy an electric car.. make a great car thats BETTER THAN EXISTING GASOLINE CARS.. not a product thats of inferior quality to cars now.

Your talking to a car enthusiast here.. not some retard

Plus calling me a douche when I point out logical reasons why the EV1 sucks makes no sense man.

So go look at tesla motors.. and pull your head out.

[Torr Leonard]

you've obviously not even watched the film or done any research into the ev1. GM purposely did not put the good batteries that were available into the car. they set it up to fail so that they could say "see? people don't want it." But they were wrong cause customer satisfacation was thru the roof, same with the prius.

[johnnylloydrollins]

argh!!!! that was my original point!!

GM is purposely trying to fail!!

I am agreeing with you..AGREEING. (I have seen the film.)

The electric car won't happen until a company that wants it to happen makes it (tesla).

But just cause people like a shitty car does not make the car a good car.. its still not that great when held up to comparisons with other car standards.

Which is entirely GM's fault. And purpose.

Just for example's sake.. If I had a EV1 and had to travel from my house in Mckinney to Fort Worth and then back home.. I could never make it! The EV1 goes about 125 miles on a charge.. which really means 60 miles there and back..

I MIGHT be able to make it.. and thats a big might...and I definitely could not make it during the winter because the battery power would drop almost 40%. I couldnt even get to Dallas! And that is just not practical..

My intention was never to argue with you.. I was reinforcing your original post. I just wanted to state that the car wasnt that great as it was made out to be... thats all.

The electric car will become a standard in about 5-10 more years.. probably sooner.. and I will welcome it gladly.

[johnnylloydrollins]

Here is a great article mentioning the movie, the problems with the EV1 not mentioned in the movie, and how Tesla plans to change the car industry:

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/52402/the_death_and_the_rebirth_of_the_electric.html

[torr]

kudos to tesla, but if they really wanna create change in the U.S. they're going to have to get the big boy auto makers on-board. think of what a tiny slice of the market tesla will ever have in our lifetime.

[johnnylloydrollins]

yeah.. it sucks that it takes a small company to do what they are trying to do..eventually when they show a profit then the bigger names will jump on board.

Time will tell.