Chris Paine has written and directed a love story, a very Los Angeles love story with a Pasadena connection about the GM EV1, from birth through wild, though short, heyday, and then death.
On a Saturday morning in June, EV owners and activists gathered for a special screening of Who Killed the Electric Car? at Pasadena's Laemmle Playhouse 7.
The disappointment, anger, and even pensive affection for a dream lost was palpable.
Paine makes you feel the sporty ride that Mel Gibson compares to the Batmobile. Some audience members cried seeing the EV1s crushed in the desert and the Honda EV shredded into little unrecognizable bits.
Dave Kodama, a Caltech alumnus who owned a GM EV1 wrote via email:
I thought the movie was pretty factual and I personally liked the movie, but having been actually involved in many of the events, I find it hard to give you an objective response. I suspect the ‘man on the street’ would find it not so interesting or suspect (especially after such movies as Fahrenheit 911). After all no one was murdered or blown up or involved in a car chase.
James Baker, a Temple City resident who owns a 1974 Jensen Healey private conversion, thought the movie was:
well done, good mix of factual information and human interest. There were parts that made me sad and angry. If it had been a fictional story, we would have seen the bad guys exposed and punished and EVs put back into production. Unfortunately, Who Killed the Electric Car? only got as far as exposing. The happy ending was left to the audience to complete.
La Crescenta resident, Earl Cox wrote via email:
I'm probably a bit biased but, of course, I loved it. I think Chris (Paine) has done a great job at telling the story that needs to be told. Energy and our economy are very important yet the true story has not been available to the general public. I hope this movie is entertaining enough to get the public out to see it since it tells the story almost exactly as I understand the truth to be.
His wife, Nagin, had never been attracted to sporty cars. She explained:
It really was true that I historically could not see how 'sporty cars' made any sense — one could get tickets, one used up more gas, one had to find an Arizona-type flat freeway to really take advantage of high speeds — it just hardly seemed to make any sense.
Article comments
1 - Sam
Being one of the lucky few that GM deemed "worthy" to lease this car, this film brought back all the rage I felt when it was finally pried from me with threats of legal action. This film is a must see for anyone who cares about not only America's geopolitical future, but more broadly the air we all breathe not to mention, the ever rising cost of gasoline.
That said, it has one major flaw in the sense that in my opinion, it failed to hold Democratic politicians as guilty as Republicans. I'm afraid that may mistakenly alienate many viewers and I say that as a Democrat. I guess I feel the message of the film is too important to be delivered with any partisan bias so if your politics lean towards the right, please try not to be offended. Remember that this particular murder was one of those truly rare bi-partisan endeavors. For example, the ZEV Mandate that enabled the EV1 was passed under Governor Wilson, a Republican and the man who pulled the trigger essentially killing the ZEV mandate (and thereby, the EV1) was none other than Alan Lloyd. He just so happened to work at the pleasure of a Democrat, Gov. Gray Davis (who correct me if I blinked and missed it, never appeared in the film!) So Davis was let completely off and Lloyd (the actual assassin) treated with less comtempt than Bush Jr. or Andy Card (who were also guilty, but only by association).
That said, the facts presented in the film that I had personal knowledge of, or experience with, were 100% true. Just don't forget that the actual asassin was Dr. Lloyd because he still makes his living as a con-man. He fronts as an environmental scientist hyping at the very least a very unlikely if not flat out fantasy future with hydrogen fuel cells.
2 - Andre
just saw the movie. I have to say that I'll never buy another GM car again, electric or otherwise. To waste resources in the way that GM does it (in addition to crushing cars that EV owners were willing to buy) makes me NEVER want to do business with that company ever again. I'll get my next electric Prius or Ford .. whatever.. but not GM.
3 - William Meadows
With all the love of the EV-1, did anyone save the plans of the car so someone else could use some of the design features, ideas and espically the improvements from it to privately build a new unit that might be better or made more available without the interferance of the automakers or the oil industry? Are there any service plans, parts lists or maybe other manufacturing hints that would enable a conversion of an existing car to electric. Just wondering...
4 - Tom O'Neill
GM, the company who not only abandoned the EV 1 but sought to obliterate its existence, is insisting on taxpayer money to perpetuate its own existence. In the long run is that kind of a company, with such power over our transportation needs, our environmental needs and the economic needs of working people a help or a liability to our society?
5 - gnomædh
Even just thinking about the death of the EV1 program fills me with rage! I still can't believe our society's utter stupidity when it comes to NOT mandating efficiency upgrades on regular vehicles and NOT effectively guiding our industry away from fossil fuels... We're going to pay for this quite dearly in the very near future, I'm afraid.
I was so inspired by what happened to the EV1 program that I started looking into different alternate technologies for transportation. I have found a few interesting possibilities along the way... There is hope yet before our society utterly hits the wall.
Let's remember the EV1 period as an example of what not to do with innovative technological change, but rather a reminder that technology is dynamic and ever changing and we should look at growing with it rather than sticking our heads in the sand.
I think that Peak Oil is about to spank the Scrooge out of the car manufacturers and force a total rethink of what it means to have mobility in the 21st century.
Let's see what the future brings...
Open your minds!
thanks; gnomædh