[PAA-Discuss] FW: [nhnenews] Movie: 'Who Killed The Electric Car?'

[Lee Loe]

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Subject: [nhnenews] Movie: 'Who Killed The Electric Car?'


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WHO KILLED THE ELECTRIC CAR?
Sony Pictures Classics Website

http://www.sonyclassics.com/whokilledtheelectriccar/

It was among the fastest, most efficient production cars ever built. It ran
on electricity, produced no emissions and catapulted American technology to
the forefront of the automotive industry. The lucky few who drove it never
wanted to give it up. So why did General Motors crush its fleet of EV1
electric vehicles in the Arizona desert?

WHO KILLED THE ELECTRIC CAR? chronicles the life and mysterious death of the
GM EV1, examining its cultural and economic ripple effects and how they
reverberated through the halls of government and big business.

The year is 1990. California is in a pollution crisis. Smog threatens public
health. Desperate for a solution, the California Air Resources Board (CARB)
targets the source of its problem: auto exhaust. Inspired by a recent
announcement from General Motors about an electric vehicle prototype, the
Zero Emissions Mandate (ZEV) is born. It required 2% of new vehicles sold in
California to be emission-free by 1998, 10% by 2003. It is the most radical
smog-fighting mandate since the catalytic converter.

With a jump on the competition thanks to its speed-record-breaking electric
concept car, GM launches its EV1 electric vehicle in 1996. It was a
revolutionary modern car, requiring no gas, no oil changes, no mufflers, and
rare brake maintenance (a billion-dollar industry unto itself). A typical
maintenance checkup for the EV1 consisted of replenishing the windshield
washer fluid and a tire rotation.

But the fanfare surrounding the EV1's launch disappeared and the cars
followed. Was it lack of consumer demand as carmakers claimed, or were other
persuasive forces at work?

Fast forward to 6 years later... The fleet is gone. EV charging stations dot
the California landscape like tombstones, collecting dust and spider webs.
How could this happen? Did anyone bother to examine the evidence? Yes, in
fact, someone did. And it was murder.

The electric car threatened the status quo. The truth behind its demise
resembles the climactic outcome of Agatha Christie's Murder on the Orient
Express: multiple suspects, each taking their turn with the knife. WHO
KILLED THE ELECTRIC CAR? interviews and investigates automakers,
legislators, engineers, consumers and car enthusiasts from Los Angeles to
Detroit, to work through motives and alibis, and to piece the complex puzzle
together.

WHO KILLED THE ELECTRIC CAR? is not just about the EV1. It's about how this
allegory for failure -- reflected in today's oil prices and air quality --
can also be a shining symbol of society's potential to better itself and the
world around it. While there's plenty of outrage for lost time, there's also
time for renewal as technology is reborn in WHO KILLED THE ELECTRIC CAR?

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Published by David Sunfellow
NewHeavenNewEarth (NHNE)
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