ChristineL
11-28-2007, 01:18 AM
I almost posted on the Glolbal Warming Thread. I decided to start a new one. Some months ago I saw a movie called "Who Killed the Electric Car?". If anyone doubts the power of the oil and car industries, see this movie. No one talks about the "EV1" any more. The car companies act as if it had never existed as they talk about new technology to increase mileage. The main problem with the electric car, besides of course running on an electrical charge, was the maintenance was next to zero. Car manufacturers would lose all the money they make on oil changes and maintaining new cars. The electric car was manufactured in response to a California requirement for drastically reducing emmissions. It becomes very clear in this movie, through interviews with the inventor of the car battery, sales people hired to promote the car, and the owners of the cars themselves that the auto manufacturers had no intention of continuing to make these cars. They were made until the car manufacturers and oil companies got the emmission requirements reversed. The cars were never sold, only leased. When the requirements were reversed, all the electric cars were taken from the lessors and destroyed. Many wanted to buy the cars, but could not. Anyone refusing to return their vehicles would be prosecuted for stealing them. Many of the people who had leased these cars were upset and tracked them. They were all disposed of. There is stacks of crushed EV1's in the Arizona desert. They were beautiful little cars, and seeing those stacks upon stacks of them crushed was a bit heart-breaking...what a waste of resources.
I went to see this movie with my mom and a friend. We were angry for weeks. These were not tiny three wheeled things you can't take on the freeways. This was a decent sized compact that had enough guts to take to the freeways. The battery's inventor was working on a battery that would get more than twice the mileage per charge of his first battery. The EV1's got 60 miles, the battery he was working on would have gotten 200 or 250. Unfortunately, one of the car manufacturers owned a majority percentage of the battery company and it was sold to an oil company...of course...ended up dismantled and the patent buried. I'm sorry I can't remember exact dates or the name of the battery inventor...Rent the movie.
I went to see this movie with my mom and a friend. We were angry for weeks. These were not tiny three wheeled things you can't take on the freeways. This was a decent sized compact that had enough guts to take to the freeways. The battery's inventor was working on a battery that would get more than twice the mileage per charge of his first battery. The EV1's got 60 miles, the battery he was working on would have gotten 200 or 250. Unfortunately, one of the car manufacturers owned a majority percentage of the battery company and it was sold to an oil company...of course...ended up dismantled and the patent buried. I'm sorry I can't remember exact dates or the name of the battery inventor...Rent the movie.