San Francisco, California
General Motors must be worried about the adverse PR they get in the film I saw tonight – worried enough to buy an ad that appears at the top of the page if you Google on “Who Killed The Electric Car?” Try it. For EV afficionados (EVicionados?) the film must make distressing viewing. An EV snuff movie. Pristine, shiny GM EV1’s are repossessed, shredded and crushed (see above).
Chris Paine, the director and writer, clearly has an axe to grind, but the case for the prosecution is presented in an entertaining and informative way, much as Bowling For Columbine did. It helps his cause that he has some surprising statistics at his disposal.
Did you know that 100 years ago there were more electric cars on the road than gas cars?
Or that a gallon of gas releases 19 pounds of carbon into the atmosphere?
Or that the US consumes almost 9 million barrels of gasoline daily, representing 43% of the total global daily gasoline consumption?
By switching to the most efficient models in each vehicle class, Americans could save 13.1 billion gallons of gasoline annually.
And as for flying, the amount of fuel that a Jumbo Jet can carry would drive an average car four times around the world.
Click here for more facts from the film.
It makes thought-provoking viewing, and is well worth seeing. It contains some marvellous quotes: [The American consumer says] “You’re asking me to drive a small car. You’re asking me to keep my house cold. Basically, you want me to live like” [pause for shocked expression] “a European”.
And Mel Gibson’s startling beard (see below) deserves a title credit all to itself.
The film concludes on an optimistic note. As one of the interviewees says: ‘This was David against Goliath, in a big way. But if you get lots of Davids, you can beat Goliath.’ Public awareness is the key to gathering those Davids, and this film does its bit to enlighten as well as entertain.
Alexandra Paul, Baywatch actress, drives an EV
Movie trailers available on the Apple site
