>>REVIEW
WHO KILLED THE ELECTRIC CAR?
Directed by Chris Paine
Opens Friday, August 25
Uptown Screen
Who Killed the Electric Car?, directed by Chris Paine, chronicles the brief rise and fall of General Motors’ EV1, that saw its peak in the late ’90s. The innovative vehicle was positioned to become a viable alternative to the internal combustion engine in Los Angeles, with General Motors leading the charge.
For a time, its place in the future seemed promising, with the State of California going so far as to table a law that would force car dealers to sell a certain percentage of zero-emission vehicles in an effort to reduce smog. The film (narrated by Martin Sheen) takes the viewer through the events that led to the demise of this law and GM’s mysterious recall of all EV1s (soon after, all other manufacturers took GM’s lead and recalled their own electric cars).
Who Killed the Electric Car? attempts to be both a constructive, informative analysis and a cutting exposé on corporate greed in America. It lapses into repetition from time to time, but nevertheless succeeds as a thought-provoking documentary.
For conspiracy theorists, there are many implications of backroom dealings and political pressure from powerful lobbyists. In one of many similarities to the story of Preston Tucker (which later became a film by Francis Ford Coppola), the documentary clearly identifies big oil, auto manufacturers and the U.S. government (and the relationship therein) as the main culprits in the demise of the EV1. In fairness, it also puts blame on the general public and its love affair with SUVs.
Interestingly, the film is very dismissive of the hydrogen fuel cell, going so far as to call it a pipe dream intended to distract the public, thus allowing the electric car to die quietly. The hydrogen fuel cell, it says, will perpetually be 10 to 15 years away from feasibility.
Despite the many references to global warming, health consequences from smog, and the political/economic danger surrounding reliance on Middle East oil, the tone of the film manages to avoid hysteria. Flirting only occasionally with the cheesy danger music technique, Who Killed the Electric Car? maintains its credibility throughout. The result is an unsettling statement about the vitality of the American Dream. |
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