Who Killed the Electric Car? | 
 enlarge | Actor: Martin Sheen
Studio: Sony Pictures
Category: DVD
List Price: $14.94
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Rating:  280 reviews
Sales Rank: 551
Format: Ac-3, Color, Dolby, Dvd-video, Subtitled, Widescreen, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), French (Subtitled)
Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Number Of Items: 1
Running Time: 93
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
MPN: 15286
UPC: 043396152861
EAN: 0043396152861
ASIN: B000I5Y8FU
Theatrical Release Date: 2006
Release Date: November 14, 2006
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Amazon.com
It begins with a solemn funeral…for a car. By the end of Chris Paine's lively and informative documentary, the idea doesn't seem quite so strange. As narrator Martin Sheen notes, "They were quiet and fast, produced no exhaust and ran without gasoline." Paine proceeds to show how this unique vehicle came into being and why General Motors ended up reclaiming its once-prized creation less than a decade later. He begins 100 years ago with the original electric car. By the 1920s, the internal-combustion engine had rendered it obsolete. By the 1980s, however, car companies started exploring alternative energy sources, like solar power. This, in turn, led to the late, great battery-powered EV1. Throughout, Paine deftly translates hard science and complex politics, such as California's Zero-Emission Vehicle Mandate, into lay person's terms (director Alex Gibney, Oscar-nominated for Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room, served as consulting producer). And everyone gets the chance to have their say: engineers, politicians, protesters, and petroleum spokespeople--even celebrity drivers, like Peter Horton, Alexandra Paul, and a wild man beard-sporting Mel Gibson. But the most persuasive participant is former Saturn employee Chelsea Sexton. Promoting the benefits of the EV1 was more than a job to her, and she continues to lobby for more environmentally friendly options. Sexton provides the small ray of hope Paine's film so desperately needs. Who Killed the Electric Car? is, otherwise, a tremendously sobering experience. --Kathleen C. Fennessy Stills from Who Killed the Electric Car? (click for larger image) Writer/Director Chris Paine Blogs About Who Killed the Electric Car
 When Who Killed the Electric Car premiered at the Sundance Film Festival (on the same weekend as An Inconvenient Truth), we wondered whether movie goers were ready for a new kind of 'action film'. Fortunately people jumped onboard and this seems even more true today.
We put this DVD together after the release of the film to include a dozen short scenes we couldn't quite fit into our story. My favorite is one with Stan and Iris Ovshinsky who developed the revolutionary battery technology that powered GM's electric car (and today's Prius). These two brilliant octogenarians took our small camera crew on a Willy Wonka style tour of their inventions including the world's largest thin film solar cell factory. As we stood under a football field size machine in Troy Michigan, I blustered "Is solar power back?" Stan exclaimed " What?! Solar never went away... What was back was backward thinking!" And as his machine cranked out miles of solar cells above us, we knew he was right.
I'm especially glad that the optimistic last scene of Who Killed the Electric Car has proven that we weren't just wishful thinkers when we finished our edit. The clips feature the first glimpse of the ultra fast Tesla electric sports prototype as well the Zenn neighborhood electric vehicle. Both cars are starting to roll off production lines today. And while the State of California (and some car companies) are still gambling on hydrogen fuel cells, plug-in cars are proving to be more environmentally efficient and popular. Early adopters deserve a lot of the credit. Oil companies and the internal combustion engine monopoly may have "killed" thousands of electric cars (EVs) in the 1990s, but EVs are coming back. (Stay tuned for next film...)
I hope you'll find our documentary takes you on a wild ride out of the 20th century and into the 21st. --Chris Paine, Writer/Director
Product Description
In 1996 electric cars began to appear on roads all over California. They were quiet and fast produced no exhaust and ran without gasoline. Ten years later these futuristic cars were almost entirely gone. What happened? Why should we be haunted by the ghost of the electric car?SPECIAL FEATURES:12 Deleted ScenesDocumentary: "Jump-Starting the Future"Music Video: Meeky Rosie's "Forever"System Requirements:Run Time: 91 minsFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: DOCUMENTARIES/MISC. Rating: PG UPC: 043396152861 Manufacturer No: 15286
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| Customer Reviews: Read 275 more reviews...
 Excellent film October 4, 2008
I borrowed this film from my local library and was impressed -- the film goes through the history of the electric car and proceeds to tell the tragic story of GM's EV1, in the end convincing the viewer of the conspiracy by the oil companies to destroy the EV1, as it threatened their profits. I enjoyed the film so much that I decided to buy a copy of the DVD for my father & mother so that they could watch it.
The Future October 3, 2008
This is an awesome DVD that fills in the blanks about the EV1 for those of us who don't remember it, who never got to drive it, and who wondered what happened to it.
 the electric car is not dead September 24, 2008
It almost seemed a little too good to be true... a car that runs on 100% electricity, has zero emissions and can go as fast as any combustion engine car. As I was watching this documentary, I was trying to figure out what some of the main drawbacks were because with any new technology, there are always going to be unforseen problems and concerns. I do believe that the oil companies and car manufacturers definately have lots to lose in the wide spread sale of electric cars but there are issues with the practicality of these electric cars as well. For examble... it takes about 8 hours to charge them so you'd have to make sure you don't travel too far without having it fully charged. From the looks of them, they required a specialized plug for charging, not a standard household plug.
All issues aside, we are about to see a re-emirgence of the electric car. Today, people can have their Priuses modified to become plug-in hybrids. Both GM and Chevy plan to release fully electric and plug-in electric hybrids as soon as 2010. It seem as though all of the problems with the EV1 have been eliminated. Some have suggested that the electric cars will force us to build more power plants. From my understanding, they have hybrid solar cars which will be available soon.
This is a must watch documentary which gets us thinking about how big businesses run everything and will do everything they can to protect their assets. After watching this video, you'll understand why the new electric cars will be so expensive. Also, you'll understand why most of them will not be fully electric, but electric/gas hybrids.
One of my all-time favorite documentaries September 21, 2008
A great movie about electric vehicles with the potential to create a revolution that would improve everyone's lives here in USA and across the globe. Also a perfect example of how the power, control and influence of a few big corporations and interests over our government put their interests before the benefit of the population of the earth.
This movie is very informative as well as fun; A very good quality production that everyone should watch!
Excellent production of a sad story created by General Motors September 17, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
This is an excellent quality DVD movie. Production is superb and the story makes a lot of sense. It's really amazing that GM decided to kill the best thing since sliced bread (i.e., the EV-1 Electric Car). If you never believed in conspiracies, then perhaps after viewing this production you'll think again. The EV-1 was a revolutionary success in 1996 (lead acid batteries or not), but when the batteries were upgraded along with its electronic package, there was no excuse for canceling this product. Stunning that each Lease holder of one of these vehicles was NOT given the opportunity to buy their car from GM at any price. Instead, GM called all EV-1 lease holders and told them to surrender their beloved vehicles. After their vehicles were surrendered to GM dealers, the vehicles were rapidly taken to the desert proving grounds where they were all crushed and chopped to pieces. I know it's unbelievable, but it's documented. And whether this vehicle could go only 65 miles or over 100 miles is a moot point. 90% of all drivers could do their daily commutes with a vehicle that is capable of traveling only 60 miles a day (double that if the vehicle could be re-charged at work). Hybrid vehicles are no where near as efficient as the 1996 GM EV-1. General Motors knows this and they knew it then - when they canceled the line after 2000. No gas, no oil filters, no engine to overhaul, no tune-ups, only a battery to re-charge and tires.
Who wants to bet that GM and the oil companies saw a great empowerment of the public with this vehicle, finally being able to wean itself off of gasoline and oil. GM & Big Oil said no way my friend, canceled the EV-1 product line never to be seen again.
GM deserves whatever comes its way for being so asinine about taking this vehicle away from those who loved it. It would have been the example for future generation vehicles, and our country would be significantly less dependent on foreign oil. I'll never figure out how greed can effect judgment that compromises the good of so many Americans.
GM & Big Oil - You both ought to be ashamed of yourself. Electric was - and is the way to go. Hybrid is a compromise that keeps the oil companies and spare parts manufacturers happy. That way, you'll have to buy every type of part that is imaginable.
Shame on you GM. Big Oil, your greed is quite unbelievable.
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