Who Killed the Electric Car?

[RivianDeac]

For those unaware, this story is absolutely fascinating! You can stream it free with Amazon Prime. If you are snowed or iced-in like me, I highly suggest checking out this short documentary.

It is a former Sundance film from 2006 about the EPIC FAIL GM EV1 from the mid-90s. The parallels (and differences) to our contemporary attempt at widespread EV adoption is mind-blowing. For example, 100’s were made but only leased to affluent buyers in SoCal and Az. When GM tried to repossess them, they had to threaten legal action on many of the owners who were in so in love with their vehicles, despite generous offers to purchase them.

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[timf]

There is also a follow-up film "Revenge of the Electric Car" which covers Tesla through the development of the Roadster and lead up to Model S. It's been a while since I've watched them but they're both worth seeing.

 

[koersontap]

I remember following the EV1 *way back* when it first came out, and being fascinated by it. Always wondered why it was so hushed. Granted, at the time I was building an electric car myself, so I may not have been the most unbiased observer.

I loved that car.

 

[COdogman]

That movie really opened my eyes to the larger picture of how all this works. I can’t say I was shocked, but it made me even more of a believer in EVs. I thought there must be a reason the big auto companies saw cars like that as such a threat.

Also remember there was a Ford Ranger EV from 1998-2002 and a RAV 4 EV from 1997-2014.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Ranger_EV
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota_RAV4_EV

 

[Dark-Fx]

EV1's real cost was somewhere in the 80-100k range, and that's without having parts availability for 15 years after shutting the program down. Crushing them was the only way to avoid that cost. Lead Acid and NiMH batteries just weren't advanced enough to be reliable for the length of time Li-ion batteries are.

 

[bac4uw]

I lived in AZ at the time and there were a couple of people in my area that had the EV1. I remember being fascinated by that vehicle and it probably turned me on to electric cars... and then GM turned me off of GM by what followed.

In the early 2000s, I knew a guy at work who bought a Corbin Sparrow EV:
https://www.autoweek.com/car-life/a1892031/corbin-sparrow-was-clown-car-tomorrow/

Again, opened my eyes up to the possibilities of EVs... my love life thanks me for not buying one though! ?

 

[RivianDeac]

 

[COdogman]

I forgot about the Sparrow! Amazing!

 

[thrill]

Look at all those hard buttons and in-your-face cupholders! None of that nasty clean line design and software upgradeability to worry about.

 

[Blueassassin]

Great movie!

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