Who Killed the Electric Car?, 2006

As someone who lives in somewhat of a metropolitan area with a short 15 min. commute to work, the idea of an electric car is very appealing. That it looks like it won’t happen any time soon is a big disappointment. Sure, the film may not accurately portray some of the shortcomings of the electric vehicles but it’s evident that the cars were viable for a lot of commuters. The filmmakers point the finger at the likely suspects; the oil industry and the car industry, but it’s clear the man that killed the electric car was California Air Resources Board chairman, Alan Lloyd. The reason the electric cars were built by the big auto makers in the first place was to comply with a California law that required the automakers to sell a percentage of zero emission cars by 2003 (ramped up to 10% by 2003). So the automakers responded and made the cars. Unfortunately, Alan Lloyd who’s been involved with hydrogen cell research was able to undo this mandate and the cars were pulled off the road and scrapped. Just like that. It’s frustrating to think that such a potentially revolutionary step forward in automaking was dashed so quickly. My hope is that enough people will start thinking about working for positive progress and we can get back to being a country proud not only of it’s past achievements but proud of the fact that we’re working on making the world a better place through innovative science and creativity.