Who Killed the Electric Car?

First off I have to say it wasn't me.

Though I may very well be part of the problem that the filmmakers of Who Killed the Electric Car? (Chris Paine, 2006) come to as part of their conclusion. The question of the electric car is intriguing and that is what the film focus's on. Most specifically the film focus's on the EV1 and the cars rise and fall. But for as much as the film is the story of a car. It is also a film that addresses the ever popular issue of global warming or, if you prefer, climate change. As Chris Paine weaves in and out of the stories of those who owned the EV1 the wheels of conspiracy spin on what led the vehicle to be pulled from the roads.



The film opens with a tongue and cheek funeral for the EV1 and Martin Sheen's narration that touts the car as a savior machine. A brief history of electric vehicles and the b-roll footage of old electric cars being replaced by combustion engine vehicles becomes the ground work for the real problems of pollution. Though Who Killed the Electric Car? is a film that is for all audiences, the film is very much a California centric film. What is briefly stated in the film is that the EV1 was not sold nation wide but rather in California and Arizona. Though this is not the focus of the film and is told as a minor fact , it is paramount to the effect of the real problems of electric vehicles and possibly what the problems are of Who Killed the Electric Car?

Much of the film can be seen as a commercial for the EV1 and electric vehicles. As the EV1 is glamorized by Hollywood celebrities and the few owners it seems that the electric vehicle is the solution to California's and even the nations pollution problems. In a time where the rhetoric surrounding gasoline prices and vehicle carbon emissions a film like Who Killed the Electric Car? is a perfect voice for discourse. Though the film is heavily handed towards the electric vehicle. Chris Paine very much touts the vehicle as an underdog in the world of SUV's and gas guzzlers. But the underdog is more a less a fall guy for the oil industry and car manufactures. The film makes connections between the oil industry and their collusion with the government and car manufacturers. As California's regulations on car emissions began to falter so to did the electric car. General Motors ad campaign's come across as odd at best and the concerns and questions of the general public were not answered.



The film also addresses the governments move towards the hydrogen fuel cell vehicle as another reason for the electric vehicles demise. The film disposes the hydrogen fuel cell vehicle as a futurist concept. The gap between non-emitting vehicles and carbon emitting vehicles becomes the place where the film finds itself in the end. By 2003 California turned aside their emissions mandate and began pulling the electric vehicles off the road. The electric vehicle's defeat becomes a rallying cry for those who want electric vehicles. Who Killed the Electric Car? shows that in death the ghost of the electric vehicle will continue to haunt us. It may haunt those who used to own the vehicles but for those who have not, the vehicle becomes a relic, and to be saved for museums. Many of the EV1's found their resting place in car compacters and car shredders and it is the filmmakers view that the car manufactures wanted the electric vehicles absolutely terminated.



Even though the film looks for answers as to the question of who? Where do we go next with the knowledge that we know about electric vehicles? The filmmakers constantly show that there is a demand for electric vehicles. As there is a demand there is also, from street interviews, a lack of knowledge about electric vehicles. Even though the film shows this, there is not much details as to the negative aspects of the electric vehicle. Edward H. Murphy of the American Petroleum Institute believed that the electric car failed do to inadequate technology. As much as Murphy may be on the side of oil the film does not divulge into what he means by inadequate technology. History does show that car manufacturers and the oil industry do have influence on what is driven and how transportation is developed. The fingers pointed at the oil industry by the filmmakers tries to connect, and not adequately, the electric vehicle and the nations addiction to oil with the Iraq war and policy's of the government.

If anything the killer of the electric vehicle is money. Whether it be money to; make, sell or lose do to gas prices, money is the driving factor. But with questions being asked by Who Killed the Electric Car? the pull towards fuel efficient vehicles grows stronger and stronger. Certainly Who Killed the Electric Car? is populist in nature and in a way a form of propaganda. But if the discourse of global warming, pollution and solutions, becomes an open forum for everyone, then Who Killed the Electric Car? is another voice in the forum.



If one day electric vehicles make their return and are not concept vehicles but practical vehicles for everyone, I would not be surprised if the price of the vehicles is out of reach for most of us. As the hydrogen fuel cell vehicle is still is a mirage and part of a slight of hand, as proposed by the filmmakers. The cry's for fuel efficiency may be falling into a void. Who Killed the Electric Car? very well does its best to let us know of those voices and to even join in and demand some action to be taken by the car manufactures and the government, even if nothing happens. The hope of maybe one day having vehicles with zero emissions may still be a long ways off. We may never fully know the full extent of the possibilities of the first electric vehicles but there is one thing that is certain. That the killer of the electric vehicle is still out there.