Who killed the electric car?
Who killed the electric car?
Documentary film is a convincing indictment of the oil industry, GM and the Bush’s administration efforts to thwart the mass manufacturing of the electric car by US automakers.
“The EV1 was the first modern production electric vehicle from a major automaker and also the first purpose-built electric car produced by General Motors (GM) in the United States.
Introduced in 1996, The EV1 electric cars were available in California and Arizona as a lease only, as well as through a Southern Company employee lease program in Georgia, and could be serviced at designated Saturn retailers. They were discontinued after 1999 and subsequently removed from the roads in 2003 by General Motors (except for a few). The car's discontinuation was and remains a controversial topic.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Who_Killed_the_Electric_Car%3F
“The movie deals with the history of the electric car, its development and commercialization, mostly focusing on the General Motors EV1, which was made available for lease in Southern California, after the California Air Resources Board passed the ZEV mandate in 1990, as well as the implications of the events depicted for air pollution, environmentalism, Middle East politics, and global warming.
The film details the California Air Resources Board's reversal of the mandate after suits from automobile manufacturers, the oil industry, and the George W. Bush administration. It points out that Bush's chief influences, Dick Cheney, Condoleezza Rice, and Andrew Card, are all former executives and board members of oil and auto companies.”
Oil companies
“Fearful of losing business to a competing technology, they supported efforts to kill the ZEV mandate. They also bought patents to prevent modern NiMH batteries from being used in US electric cars.”
Government
“The federal government joined in the auto industry suit against California, has failed to act in the public interest to limit pollution and require increased fuel economy, has promoted the purchase of vehicles with poor fuel efficiency through preferential tax breaks, and has redirected alternative fuel research from electric towards hydrogen.”
Read the interview with the author:
http://www.pbs.org/now/shows/223/index.html
"[The film] is about why the only kind of cars that we can drive run on oil. And for a while there was a terrific alternative, a pure electric car,"
http://www.sonyclassics.com/whokilledtheelectriccar/
See the trailer, buy the film.
This is from About.com
Average cost of electric vehicle vs gasoline: Less than 1/2
Electricity Basics
Electricity used to power vehicles is generally provided by the electricity grid and stored in the vehicle's batteries. Fuel cells are being explored as a way to use electricity generated on board the vehicle to power electric motors. Unlike batteries, fuel cells convert chemical energy from hydrogen into electricity.
Vehicles that run on electricity have no tailpipe emissions. Emissions that can be attributed to electric vehicles are generated in the electricity production process at the power plant.
Home recharging of electric vehicles (EVs) is as simple as plugging them into an electric outlet. Electricity fueling costs for electric vehicles are reasonable compared to gasoline, especially if consumers take advantage of off-peak rates. However, electricity costs vary across the U.S. depending on location, type of generation, and time of use. For average U.S. electricity prices, see the Energy Information Administration's Residential Electricity Prices: A Consumer's Guide. Many states, particularly California, have public access electric outlets at libraries, shopping centers, hospitals, and businesses.
Vehicles with direct current (DC) electric systems get about 0.4 kilowatt-hours (kWh) per mile, while those with more efficient alternating current (AC) systems get about 0.174 to 0.288 kWh per mile. If your home electricity rate is $0.13 per kWh, it would cost about $0.05 per mile for DC operation and $0.03 cents per mile for AC operation. You would pay $0.12 per mile for gasoline in a vehicle that gets 25 miles per gallon when gasoline sells for $3 per gallon.
Documentary film is a convincing indictment of the oil industry, GM and the Bush’s administration efforts to thwart the mass manufacturing of the electric car by US automakers.
“The EV1 was the first modern production electric vehicle from a major automaker and also the first purpose-built electric car produced by General Motors (GM) in the United States.
Introduced in 1996, The EV1 electric cars were available in California and Arizona as a lease only, as well as through a Southern Company employee lease program in Georgia, and could be serviced at designated Saturn retailers. They were discontinued after 1999 and subsequently removed from the roads in 2003 by General Motors (except for a few). The car's discontinuation was and remains a controversial topic.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Who_Killed_the_Electric_Car%3F
“The movie deals with the history of the electric car, its development and commercialization, mostly focusing on the General Motors EV1, which was made available for lease in Southern California, after the California Air Resources Board passed the ZEV mandate in 1990, as well as the implications of the events depicted for air pollution, environmentalism, Middle East politics, and global warming.
The film details the California Air Resources Board's reversal of the mandate after suits from automobile manufacturers, the oil industry, and the George W. Bush administration. It points out that Bush's chief influences, Dick Cheney, Condoleezza Rice, and Andrew Card, are all former executives and board members of oil and auto companies.”
Oil companies
“Fearful of losing business to a competing technology, they supported efforts to kill the ZEV mandate. They also bought patents to prevent modern NiMH batteries from being used in US electric cars.”
Government
“The federal government joined in the auto industry suit against California, has failed to act in the public interest to limit pollution and require increased fuel economy, has promoted the purchase of vehicles with poor fuel efficiency through preferential tax breaks, and has redirected alternative fuel research from electric towards hydrogen.”
Read the interview with the author:
http://www.pbs.org/now/shows/223/index.html
"[The film] is about why the only kind of cars that we can drive run on oil. And for a while there was a terrific alternative, a pure electric car,"
http://www.sonyclassics.com/whokilledtheelectriccar/
See the trailer, buy the film.
This is from About.com
Average cost of electric vehicle vs gasoline: Less than 1/2
Electricity Basics
Electricity used to power vehicles is generally provided by the electricity grid and stored in the vehicle's batteries. Fuel cells are being explored as a way to use electricity generated on board the vehicle to power electric motors. Unlike batteries, fuel cells convert chemical energy from hydrogen into electricity.
Vehicles that run on electricity have no tailpipe emissions. Emissions that can be attributed to electric vehicles are generated in the electricity production process at the power plant.
Home recharging of electric vehicles (EVs) is as simple as plugging them into an electric outlet. Electricity fueling costs for electric vehicles are reasonable compared to gasoline, especially if consumers take advantage of off-peak rates. However, electricity costs vary across the U.S. depending on location, type of generation, and time of use. For average U.S. electricity prices, see the Energy Information Administration's Residential Electricity Prices: A Consumer's Guide. Many states, particularly California, have public access electric outlets at libraries, shopping centers, hospitals, and businesses.
Vehicles with direct current (DC) electric systems get about 0.4 kilowatt-hours (kWh) per mile, while those with more efficient alternating current (AC) systems get about 0.174 to 0.288 kWh per mile. If your home electricity rate is $0.13 per kWh, it would cost about $0.05 per mile for DC operation and $0.03 cents per mile for AC operation. You would pay $0.12 per mile for gasoline in a vehicle that gets 25 miles per gallon when gasoline sells for $3 per gallon.
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