By: debbie lynn elias
One of the most important events to take place during the 2006 Los Angeles Film Festival was Green Day. Not only do films entertain, they often (lately, more often than not) educate and inform. One of the best examples of this is WHO KILLED THE ELECTRIC CAR? and AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH. Serving as one of the book ends to the environmentally friendly Green Day, this films succinctly and passionately tell the sad tale of the environmental demise of this country and the world, global warming, the energy crisis (and it is a crisis), corporate and political greed and consumer laziness.
Written and directed by Chris Paine, WHO KILLED THE ELECTRIC CAR?, takes a look at the creation and destruction of the electric car, and more particularly GM’s EV-1. With gas prices at an all time high, fossil fuel consumption adversely affecting global warming, and the “sudden realization” that the vast natural resources of the world are not unlimited, Paine could not have picked a better time to release this film.
By 1990, pollution in California had risen to an all time high (up to that point), and thanks to the legislature’s enactment of the Zero Emission Mandate, car manufacturers had to come up with an alternative to the internal combustion, gas and oil, method of powering a car. The answer was quite a simple. Electricity. As pointed out in commentary by comedienne Phyllis Diller (with an oil portrait of her old friend and ours, Bob Hope, gracing the background) electric cars were nothing new. They had been around for almost 100 years, as were trolleys. Clean, efficient, quiet modes of transportation, both fell by the wayside thanks to. . .well, you can form your own answer to that question once you see the film. We had the technology to build an electric car. We had the law in place to force the car companies to manufacture the cars. And for once, there was a meeting of the minds. GM developed the EV-1 and announced its release in 1996.
In an effort to put a positive spin on this “new” concept, 800 cars were built and leased primarily to celebrities, who chatted up their little EV’s every chance they got. From Mel Gibson to Tom Hanks to J. Karen Thomas and Collette Divine to Peter Horton and Alexandra Paul, not one EV owner had anything bad to say about the car. In fact, they loved their cars and the environment so much, they fought all the way to the wrecking yards in an effort to keep not just the cars, but all of our futures alive.
Somewhere along the line, politics, money and greed came into play and within five years, the EV’s were taken back by GM. Only available by lease, it was at the discretion of GM to terminate the leases at any time. And they did. Peter Horton, who fought tooth and nail to keep his EV, provides one the most poignant and impacting images in the documentary. As the last person to possess an EV, the sight of Horton waiting in his driveway for the two truck and then to see the car towed off, is disheartening, disturbing and demands answers. Even more disturbing is the fact that GM actually crushed the cars. No recycling, no dismantling, just crushed perfectly good cars. Why?
Effectively and eloquently narrated by Martin Sheen, ELECTRIC CAR is written in the form of a mystery theater “who done it” punctuated with some great comedic and sarcastic overtones. Fact filled and enlightening, Paine keeps the film moving thanks to some sharp editing, constant inquisition and compelling interviews with individuals like GM’s Roger Smith (a good guy) and Chelsea Sexton, a woman with more passion in her little finger with her belief in the EV-1 than most of us will ever have about anything in the course of a lifetime. Present at the LAFF screening, it was a pleasure to know that her passion off screen is as intent, if not moreso, than that on screen. One of the most interesting interviews is that with battery manufacturer, Stanford R. Ovshinsky. It is Ovshinsky and his company Ovonics that developed the long lasting nickel metal hydride (NiMH) battery so crucial to an electric car.
Opening with a tongue-in-cheek funeral for the electric car, Paine gives us lessons in the environment, history, politics, finance, and let’s face it – stupidity, as we follow the demise of the EV-1. So, who killed the electric car? The oil companies? The government? Hydrogen fuel initiatives? Car manufacturers? Battery manufacturers? The California Air Resources Board? Advertising agencies? In theaters now, WHO KILLED THE ELECTRIC CAR? You decide.
Written and directed by Chris Paine. (92 min) For trailers, downloads and more information on the Electric Car and the environment, go to www.sonyclassics.com/whokilledtheelectricar .
