Hey, I finally saw this movie. (Moderators, please feel free to move this over to the Movies forum, if that makes sense. I think it does. I thought I had put it there originally.)
domivr wrote: << you have the electricity coming from a coal-fired plant (e.g. in the US for example). I am not sure what the benifit is then >>
It's not bad film, not super, and it addresses that point about coal. The whole episode happened more recently than I thought! The last EV-1 car wasn't destroyed until like 2003, I think. It was shown that it ran for the equivalent of 60 cents per gallon of gas and that even burning the coal to produce the electricity didn't come close to the environmental impact of a gas-burning car. Not to mention that coal plants are getting better and better at controlling emissions these days, outpacing the ability of cars to control them.
When the EV-1 car appeared, the oil industry used all the usual, underhanded, political disinformation tactics, specifically, they:
-- fronted phony "consumer groups" who advocated against electric cars for baseless reasons
-- hired academics to "study" and claim that the environmental benefit was negligible
-- hired lawyers to fight California law requiring auto makers to sell no-emissions vehicles or they can't do business in the state -- the state eventually gave in
-- plastered editorials everywhere highlighting the "limits" of electric vehicles, especially their range
Sleepyvinny wrote: << Like its just a ridiculous PR stunt, and actually they really don't want anyone to buy these things! >>
Right, that came across strongly in the film, too. The car was developed in the face of impending laws that would require automakers to offer no-emissions vehicles, and it was marketed to buy time to fight that law. Because there is plenty of profit in the status quo, there is immense pressure not to evolve the technology of automobiles, not to spend on research and development.
GM itself was one of the main culprits in killing its own product. They justified it by ignoring the demand and claiming that there was none. They used inferior battery technology on purpose to limit range to 70 miles. They even censured the dude from whom they licensed the battery technology because he spoke publicly about better technology, which he had already developed, not being used. They say that 300-mile range would be possible for these cars if they existed today and simply upgraded their batteries.
All the EV-1 cars were leased only, not sold, suggesting that GM planned never to allow them to survive! When drivers went to re-lease, GM denied them, then took the cars back and ran them all through an industrial shredder -- they even turned down an offer of nearly $2 million by a driver group to simply let them have one repossessed lot of 79 vehicles. No dice. They did not want these things on the road. They were to be forgotten! It's awful. (BTW, drivers who thought about finding ways to keep their leased cars were to be charged with motor-vehicle theft if they didn't return them.)
CNN is rerunning its We Were Warned scare-o-mentary this weekend, about coming oil crises. Regardless of whether there truly is plenty of oil underground, we could have the plug pulled on supply at any time, and man, it would be so over for the western world as we know it. And regardless of how fast they can pump it out of the ground, with Chinese demand alone set to double in under ten years, and China making no known effort to create a non-oil-based economy, well, resource wars can't be far behind, especially when the Chinese are thinking about this already and making deals with Iran, Venezuela, and especially Canada (whom the U.S. has the sickening, continuing audacity to disdain overtly).
I'll wager that something very big will happen in our lifetimes folks, and the more materially focused you are, the less you're going to like it.
