Who Killed The Electric Car?

[TD_Project]

Now I know that this should belong in Media category, but this does tie into CT as far as I know.

For those who haven't watched the documentary, it is about the car entitled the General Motors EV1. (Electric Vehicle 1) This car was the only car manufactured with the GM name, and was an electric vehicle made to conform to a law passed in California, which required automotive manufacturers to make a feasible electric vehicle. The movie goes on to explain that the experiment was not only feasible, but practical. The car was a success and leased to many people as a test. However the problems started when the lease ran out. The lease required all EV1's to be returned to GM, with no opportunity for buy-backs or lease renewals. All EV1 owners were pretty upset at this, and they were promised that the EV1 vehicles would be dismantled and every part used in other GM vehicles.

Later on in the movie, some vigilante citizens spy on the GM Proving Grounds and find many EV1's pointlessly crushed. The last batch of EV1's sat in a parking lot being watched by citizens who wanted to keep their cars. After a long battle, those EV1's were crushed as well.

It's a story that doesn't make too much sense, until I really thought about it. According to most of the interviews, (keep in mind these interviews were extremely biased) they suggest GM didn't want to see the EV1 succeeding, as they would lose an extreme amount of profit. A normal car has to worry about many things, with it's internal combustion engine; Oil Filter, Air intake parts, clutch, gas tank wiring systems, oil filters, gas filters, etc. Dealerships and car manufacturers make a lot of money servicing their own cars, as they will always need to be serviced. The EV1 was a very clean and very efficient car, that required little service. It's battery lasted long enough to complete an average work commute or journey to most places, and the newer batteries could turn the vehicle into a 300 mile-range vehicle easily.

Therefore, it's not only the oil companies who lose profit, but it is the car companies themselves that would lose profit. And the government was in no rush to help to save these electric vehicles. They had a $4000 tax rebate on the EV1's at the time. May seem like a good idea, however they had a $100,000 tax rebate on SUV's at the time. This works the global warming effort backwards, as it requires us to be more dependent on oil outside of North America. With global warming in our mind, we can't afford to keep in the Middle East protecting the oil we require, when we should be focusing on solutions to the problems. After Carter put solar panels on the White House, and called for many environmental changes, many things improved. Then Reagan entered the White House as president and called for the panels to be taken down, as well as many environmental acts to be shut down.

Either way, this movie is a good movie to get your mind going. The car companies, government, oil companies and lack of motivation to start change prevent this world from becoming greener.

Anyways, I think I'm taking on a topic too big for me to even discuss, any opinions?
(P.S. move to Media category if you see fit)