Automobiles and the Oil Crisis
If you haven’t seen it, be sure to see the movie Who Killed the Electric Car?. It’s an excellent documentary, with the facts in the movie carefully double and triple-checked.
In 1990, California passed a state mandate that required that two percent of automakers’ sales in California had to be zero emission vehicles (ZEVs) by 1998. This would rise to 10 percent by 2003.
Electric vehicles represented the only way the automakers could meet this mandate. The auto companies protested. They also began leasing electric vehicles to California drivers. GM produced the EV-1, a very popular car with the owners. Production begins in 1996.
Under legal challenges from GM, in 2003 California eventually relaxed the mandate to allow hybrid vehicles to be included. In the same year GM, which had been leasing the cars, recalled all of the EV-1s and destroyed them. You could not purchase one, even if you wanted to buy it. They ended up in a landfill and were totally destroyed - not recycled as GM claimed. (You can watch them do this in the film.)
Why did GM do this? Why was the EV-1 really recalled? The film gives some really good information on this and includes many interviews with actors and actresses - who loved their EV-1s.
What you see and hear will shock you. This is an interactive film - get ready to shout your opinions as you learn the real story.
Another good web site on this is:
http://www.biz-architect.com/electric_vehicles_and_early_adopters.htm
Remember that battery technology today is making the electric car more and more practical. Also, the high production price today (that GM argues) would come down dramatically with mass production. Mass production won’t happen until the people are buying them.
Toyota took a risk in developing their hybrid. They made a long term investment in the development and were willing to lose money on their early sales. GM is investing in the hydrogen car, which is almost certain never to be accepted and has extremely difficult (if not impossible) challenges to develop and market.
Many electric cars are being developed today, but not by GM. One of the most interesting is the car developed by Telsa Motors with money from Elon Musk (PayPal cofounder), Larry Page and Sergey Brin (Google) and Jeff Skoll (eBay). You’ll see the car briefly in the movie. Read about in in Wired, the August, 2006 issue. The same issue shows you how to use a Toyota Prius as an emergency generator if your power goes out.
Abbreviated Timeline:
1990: California establishes zero emissions standard
1996: GM begins production of EV-1
1997: Toyota announces Prius
2003: California weakens mandate under legal pressure form GM
2003: GM stops leasing EV-1s, recalls all them. Other EV car manufacturers do the same.