Who Killed the Electric Car

'Who Killed the Electric Car' is a documentary which unfolds a complex set of events around the development and demise of the modern electric car. The story stems from California from the early 1990s to 2006.

The narrative begins to unfold with a brief history of the first electric cars created in the early twentieth century. These electric vehicles were killed off nearly 100 years ago as gas/petroleum powered internal combustion engine (ICE) cars became cheaper. The worsening problems of gas/petrol cars are illustrated: smog, high child asthma rates, CO2 emissions and global warming.
The film then commences the story of the modern EV in 1987 when General Motors and the 'SunRaycer', won the World Solar Challenge, a solar electric car race in Australia. General Motor's CEO, Roger Smith challenged the same design team to build a prototype practical electric car which became known as the 'Impact' when announced in 1990. The project expanded to small scale production vehicles with the aim that it would give GM several years lead over any competitor car companies. The movie continues to reveal what the various suspects did to kill the reality of the electric car, and the efforts of EV supporters to save them. Oil companies stood to lose enormous profits if EV sales took off and they colluded with others to kill the electric car.

The film then shows how the Federal Government and oil companies put forward hydrogen fuel cells as a better alternative to gas and battery electric cars. In contrast, interviews with two hydrogen experts gave details why fuel cell vehicles are not likely to be available for another 15-20 years if ever, whereas battery electric technology is available now, has been rapidly improving since the mid 1990s and is cost effective.

Although the EVs of the 1990s were killed off, the film ends by informing the modern environment where the future is being reshaped by the production of new electric and hybrid cars due to gaining an increase in popularity.