Have you seen "Who Killed the Electric Car"?

Question

I am not a liberal, and i'm not a person who's very concerned with the environment. But when i saw this movie, I was very mad. Those electric cars would be SO cool to have! And GM could have made their company 100x better in the public eye and in other areas with it too...and we could get off of foreign oil! What do you think? Why did they, and all the other automakers, stop production of this "miracle" car?

Answer 1

Because, at the time, they didn't think they could make money doing it.  It wasn't a conspiracy, just a business decision.  If they thought it would make them money, nothing would have stopped them from doing it.

Now things are different and they're all working hard on practical electric cars.  Example:

http://www.chevrolet.com/electriccar/

EDIT - I agree with wizard8100.  I didn't say it was a _good_ business decision.

Answer 2

I find wizard's answer very amusing about GM dwindling down. It's funny to me because now GM has made a major turn-around and become the 2nd best car company in the world, tailing behind Toyota. GM has finally began to realise they have what the ability but they just need to apply the ability that they have to produce efficient yet stylish cars. I do agree that Honda is making a very strong competition but I think GM will remain a leader in the car industry. I also agree that Ford has went to ****. Sadly, Ford products just seem to become more worse than their counterparts.

Answer 3

While the move did stretch the truth a little bit, GM has done nothing to either counter the claims of the movie, nor convince it's customers that it is working toward a better automobile.  It seems that tomorrows profits are more important than staying in business for the next 10 years.

If GM would have put as much money into advertising why they shut down the EV1 program as they do trying to convince people to purchase the next "uglymobile," they would be in a lot better position to convince people that they are working toward a better future for GM and the mass market.

Someday soon, you will see Honda and Toyota as the automotive giants of the world, and GM and Ford will just be has-beens who are barely able to keep up.  I wish it was not so, but I see nothing on the horizon to convince me otherwise.

Answer 4

I've seen it and felt the same, and they managed a few more years for the oil producers, but the electric car is coming back, the Japanese are putting it in the market, and every other car producer is investing in this option.

GM simply lost their chance to lead the market.

Answer 5

Yes I saw it at a green film festival in Loz Feliz,CA some months ago

It's sad how our govt and Detroit choose the big oil route rather than electric driving. We now realize that this was a mistake as we see climate change, middle east instability,  and Los Angeles smog

Answer 6

There is no such thing as a "miracle car."

All cars, both "miracle cars" and the more conventional variety, require energy.  Energy must come from another source.  Electricity, remember, comes from burning fuels (such as coal) or sometimes from other sources.  Currently, there are not enough of these other sources that we can even think about doing away with burning fuel.

If we increase the load on our electrical generation by the widespread use of plug-in "miracle" electric cars, we're just going to have to come up with the extra energy from somewhere else.  Better start building more power plants.

Hybrid cars and other energy-saving technology may reduce fuel consumption a bit, but in the end there is no free lunch.  The energy must come from somewhere.

P.S. for Jacob:  Thanks for your comment!  

I'd be curious to know how the producers of that movie fancied that burning more coal pollutes less than burning gasoline!  I suppose they might be able to put the new coal-fired plants in remote areas, but that is going to mean still more coal is burned because of the inefficiency in transporting the electricity over long distances, not to mention more acid rain for those of us downwind.  

And cheaper for consumers!?  I don't think so!  My basic high school economics tells me that when you increase demand, the price goes only in one direction.

Much as there is no such thing as a free lunch, so there is no free energy.  It has to come from somewhere.