Who Killed the Electric Car? (2006) on Netflix
PG20061h 32mDocumentary
In 1996 General Motors began leasing the EV1 to drivers in California. Ten years later the cars were taken back and crushed, over the protests of the people who drove them.
- Netflix3.8/5
- IMDb7.6/1012,958 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes89%
Trailer
Plot summary
General Motors built a solar powered vehicle for a competition, then decided in the late 1980s to develop an electric car that ordinary drivers could afford. The cars were quick and gave off no exhaust, and a charge carried them roughly 100 miles, enough for most daily trips. In 1990 California regulators, concerned about fossil fuel emissions, adopted the Zero Emission Vehicle Mandate, requiring the seven largest automakers to sell zero emission cars in the state. Almost 5,000 such vehicles were built by Chrysler, Ford, Honda, Toyota, Nissan and General Motors, most of them leased in Southern California, and the drivers who took them prized cars that were quiet and ran without gasoline. In 2003, after legal action by the manufacturers, the California Air Resources Board dropped the requirement, and the companies took the cars back from their lessees.
Cast
- Chelsea Sextonas Self
- Reverend Gadgetas Himself (as Greg 'Gadget' Abbott)
- Dave Barthmussas Himself
- Jim Boydas Himself
- Alec N. Brooksas Himself
- Alan Cocconias Himself
- John R. Dabelsas Himself
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Who Killed the Electric Car? (2006)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Years after the EV1 was killed, GM's own outgoing CEO Rick Wagoner admitted in 2009 that scrapping the EV1 and failing to invest more in electric and hybrid technology was the biggest mistake of his time running the company, and GM later pointed to that experience in developing the Chevrolet Volt, Spark EV, and Bolt.
