Who killed the electric car?

Sony has finally released the official trailer and release date of their new movie, "Who Killed the Electric Car?" The movie will be shown mostly at independent theaters - ask your local theater to carry it this summer. Then watch REALLY close for my name in the credits.

Here are the details. Links to the trailer at the bottom.

http://www.comingsoon.net/films.php?id=12796

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(tracysbeans @ May 13 2006, 07:29 AM) [snapback]254708[/snapback]</div>

The DVD release is already planned, certainly.

The trick here is to start using the phone and convince local theaters to carry this movie. It could not be coming out at a more appropriate time. The more who see it the better. People often ask me, "Well, Darell (usually they don't use such a pleasant name) what are you DOING about the situation?" One of the answers is public education - and this is a big part of it! If even a tiny percentage of the population sees this film, it will at least put a light on in peoples' minds. Nobody has to agree with it or even believe a thing that's said. But this film will actually expose people to the real EVs that we had on the road at one time. See them driving down the road at full speed, accelerating quicker than gasoline cars, etc.

Please don't roll over and expect the movie to miraculously pop up in an area near you. The theaters want to know what people want to see. Call and talk to the program director and let them know this is one you'd like to see. I made two calls in my area, and the two local independent theaters will now be showing it in June. They were THRILLED that I called since they typically just have to guess what their audience wants to see.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(aaf709 @ May 13 2006, 08:13 AM) [snapback]254724[/snapback]</div>

Ha! Made me laugh.
The Hummer, as you can briefly see in the trailer, is featured in the movie too, of course. So that should make GM happy.

 

Thanks for the comments, Wiyosaya. I started a thread on this movie a couple of weeks ago here. But more coverage is always good.

Don't assume that the movie will come to you, though! Call your local (independent) theaters and let them know you'd like to see this movie!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Marlin @ May 24 2006, 10:30 AM) [snapback]260411[/snapback]</div>

Marlin -

Before I take the time to reply - are you really looking for answers to these questions, or do you feel you have it pretty well covered in your mind already? From the sound of it, you already have all the answers and the logical conclusion.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Marlin @ May 24 2006, 11:51 AM) [snapback]260450[/snapback]</div>

Well, in a non-direct way, I guess you answered my question (regarding if you really wanted answers to your questions, if if you've got it all figured out), and I can now use my time elsewhere. For that I thank you.

Looks like we now have two threads going at the same time. Any way to combine them?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Amyshubby @ May 24 2006, 10:21 AM) [snapback]260408[/snapback]</div>

I can give you the facts that I know, and you can draw your own conclusions.

1. GM was first to market with a modern EV. Of all the EVs offered by any of the big car companies, the EV1 was generally regarded as the most advanced. GM had the lead in EV technology. Of that there is no question.
2. GM spent many $millions to block the ZEV mandate that would have required cars like the EV1 to be built. They spent $millions building their own worst emeny, apparently. They proved it could be done, and then wanted nothing more to do with it. I believe "shooting yourself in the foot" is a good term here.
3. Toyota DID destroy many of their cars as well, until we stopped them. Every one that came back from lease was headed to the crusher. We lost at least half of them. That process has now ended, however, and lease returns are now being placed with new drivers. Toyota abondonded their EV for the same reason every other company did: Because they could. GM made sure it was ended, and the rest of the car makers breathed a big sigh of relief, and as quietly as possible, closed shop.

Hear me clearly on this: EVs are not a brilliant short-term business move for car makers. When people say that EVs are not "economically viable" they typically mean in the short term. No new technology is economically viable right out of the gate. But in the bigger picture... how long can we afford to keep burning gasoline? And no, I don't just mean the bill at the gas pump.

Here's an example of "economical viability."

Long ago, factories were built next to large rivers for (among other reasons) ease of disposal of sewage and waste water. Just dump it directly into the river, and your problems are over. It was cheap to do so. As more and more businesses started doing the same thing, the rivers became toxic, and finally policies were put in place to require waste water to first be treated before dumping into rivers. And guess what? Treating the water first was WAY more expensive than just dumping it in the river raw. This cost the company more, which in turn cost the consumer more. We all had to pay for that cleaner water. Does this mean that treating water instead of dumping raw sewage in rivers is not "economically viable?" It turns out that doing the right thing often costs money. And often we can't afford NOT to spend that money in the long run. In the short term, doing the easy thing is going to be cheaper... but is it the way we *should* be doing things? Show of hands: How many think we should still be dumping raw sewage into our rivers?

Building gas cars is cheap and easy today because the profits known, the market is known, the supply lines are in place. Building an EV will initially be more expensive as the market needs to be built and supply lines shifted. EVs only make viable sense when you consider the long-term alternatives. How much longer can we afford to burn gas at today's rate?

It turns out that what is best for the car companies in the short term may not be what's best for the consumers.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Marlin @ May 24 2006, 12:42 PM) [snapback]260477[/snapback]</div>

There are no simple answers here. It would take volumes to even scratch the surface on this one, but I thank you for asking it just the same. I've wonder the same thing many times before. The problem is, you won't like much of what I have to say.

First off, those cities/countries you mention all DO have more electric cars on the road than we do in the US today. And they are far ahead of us in development of new cars. And probably more important - they're ahead of us in battery development. Drivers' needs in those countries are different from what American drivers feel they need. And for that reason, other countries can get away with much smaller, light-weight, low range, "less safe" vehicles than what we'd allow to be imported here. Again, those cities/countries you mention DO have more production EVs on the road than we do.

Next, please consider that the oil industry is not just interested in the US. We aren't growing nearly as fast as China in our consumption, of course. One of the biggest fears that the oil companies face is a country like China going straight to alternative fuels and by-passing gasoline for the most part. Similar to what happened in Eurpoe with telephones. Cell phones were adopted before massive wired infrastructure could be build, so land-lines were leap-frogged much to the joy of cell providers, and to the frowns of the big phone companies. Conspiracy or not, there is NO reason that the oil industry wants to see EVs in any country. Like any business, you'd like to keep your customers. You do that by keeping your price reasonable, holding back the competition, and trying to be the only game in town. Nothing new or under-handed here. It is the way business works. With oil cheap enough, there will certainly be no car companies bothering to take the EV risk.

GM was the leader in modern EV technology. Nobody can doubt that. GM (alone) sued to block the ZEV mandate. Nobody doubts that either. No conspiracy needed. It happened. Car companies are global. The US is the biggest auto market, and CA is the biggest market in the US. It all starts in CA, and trickles down from there. CA ZEV mandate goes away, and everything keeps chugging along as it has before. Auto companies make all the profits they need from what they've always built. There is no reason to change. The people have no idea what an EV is capable of as long as they don't have one to drive. Everybody is happy.

Just as in the "river pollution" story I wrote about above - there is no reason for car makers to offer EVs that will initially be more expensive than their gasoline counter-parts. It is cheaper and easier to keep building gas cars right now (and throwing raw sewage in the air), for all the reasons I gave earlier. If car makers aren't forced to build what we need for our healthy, secure future, then they'll keep building what is best for their share holders in the short term.

One thing that needs to be considered at all times: What is best for the short-term profits of the auto industry (in any country) is not neccessarily what is best for the rest of us. Please don't confuse the two.