Watched Who Killed the Electric Car last night.
Great documentary. Very frustrating also.
I had no idea that this happened in 2003 - did you?
California passed a zero-emissions law and then REPEALED it based on pressure from the car manufacturers.Why did the car manufacturers care so much?
The FEDERAL government also sued the California government over the law. Why? Pressure from oil-rich countries who feared the biggest market for their product was going to a smarter choice? The Feds wanted to keep good relations with these dirty-energy producers?
Hydrogen fuel cells became the new en-vogue alternative. Why? It's proven that they're not as good, as efficient, etc. Could it have anything to do with the fact that the head of the environment counsel that repealed the law was heading up the fuel cell initiative?
Good questions, all. Can anyone know for sure?
But watch the movie. There's something fishy about all this.
Why didn't we know about this?
Why isn't anyone ALLOWED to drive electric cars? Why wouldn't GM renew leases? Why did they crush all of the cars? Why, when people offered to buy up the leases of their beloved electric cars (for more than what they were worth, actually) did GM refuse AND crush all of the vehicles, not recycling any of the parts that they had promised they would.
If GM is failing as a company, there is no doubt in my mind that they deserve it. They made a choice to turn their back on and deliberately suppress a technology that would have put them years ahead of any other car manufacturer.
They made a choice to antiquate themselves in favour of the Hummer. Yep, instead of producing electric cars, they produced Hummers. Garbage. Absolute garbage.
I'm not pretending to think that the movie tells the whole story. I'm sure there are facts I don't know. But I AM sure that there is something very dodgy about the whole deal.
My favourite eye-rolling moment was when some piece of white trash in the documentary actually said that the electric car would force us (North Americans) to live like Europeans.
Oh the horror.
Living in a more sustainable manner. Can you imagine?
Sometimes I despair of the times in which I live.
1 comment:
Irony of ironies, GM has just previewed a concept car at the Auto show in Detroit, it's called the Volt, and it combines Electric and flex fuel technologies. Of course a concept car creates buzz for a company and makes them look like they're trying to be good, but doesn't actually compel them to follow through with their implied promise for tomorrow.
The demise of the electric cars in California was big news when it happened in certain magazines, etc, but virtually ignored in others.
By the way when ever I get the time (about once in a blue moon)your blog is a great way for me to feel like I'm contected at least a little to family.
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