Reflection: Who Killed the Electric Car?

I recently watched a dvd copy of the 2006 documentary Who Killed the Electric Car?. It was a thoroughly interesting exploration of why the EV1, a seemingly wonderful car, was systematically removed from the marketplace. The documentary starts by focusing on the plight of General Motors' EV1, but continues to consider the American auto industry as a whole, and finally the involvement of the oil industry.

It is a disturbing tale.  The EV1 was by all reports an incredibly efficient, fast, functional and economical car. The EV1:  
- cost less to run than standard combustion engines,
- had a drive range suitable to around 90% of an urban population,
- lower maintenance costs than conventional cars
- convenient at-home charging.

However, by 2004 GM had taken possession of all the EV1's that it had sold.  Furthermore, these cars appear to have all been destroyed.  This is the kind of story that has conspiracy theorists smacking their lips. And for good reason, it is bizzare.

At the end of the day, it all comes down to money.

The documentary slowly outlines that the US automobile industry had no real interest in pursuing electric cars as they worried that they would lose short-term profit.  This seems particularly amusing given the current state of these companies.  However, the concern was that these cars were almost too good. Without a combustion engine, ongoing dealership fees would be reduced significantly.  This represents a major component of an automobile companies revenue.

In addition, the cars gained strong opposition from the oil industry, as these cars represented a real threat to future profits.

The documentary goes beyond simply considering the EV1, or just electric cars, to consider the US's general policy on oil reliance.  It is no surprise that progress on alternative fuel, and car efficiency, were halted and even repealled under both Bush presidencies.  In the interim, Clinton spent US$1 billion on developing hybrid engines.  This was ended during George W Bush's term in presidency, and US automobile manufacturers had not put one hybrid on the market by 2006.

A hugely concerning fact:

Electric car tax break 2002:      $4,000
+6,000lb auto tax beak 2003:  $100,000
This seems to epitomise the Bush government attitude to automobile efficiency.

The documentary highlights the apparent rouse that is the Hydrogen Fuel Cell projects.  According to the documentary, Hydrogen fuel has major obstacles to becoming remotely competitive in efficiency and cost to electric alternatives.  However, it would seem that the automobile companies are brandishing these Hydrogen projects because they are so remote, and unlikely to have any results any time soon.  Thus the public are satisfied that work is being down, while we all drive combustion engines.


In conclusion, it would appear that the key is public pressure.  But to create public pressure, the public need to be informed about these issues, and motivated to act.  Without public pressure it is unlikely that automobile companies or oil companies are going to change their practices... until we run out of oil.