Today is Earth Day, and though I’m not necessarily the biggest treehugger out there, I do feel that when something is good for the consumers, the environment and our economy, it should be persued…not buried by the powers that be.
Who Killed the Electric Car is almost a cult classic: a 2006 documentary about the rise and fall of General Motors’ first foray into mass-produced electric vehicles, the EV1 of the mid-1990s. The film shows how cheap oil and marketing first buried the electric car in the 1920s, and how subsequent resurgences met resistence by a combination of forces–the Big Three automakers, Big Oil, competition from other alternative fuel technologies like hydrogen cells, and consumer marketing.
A sequel, Revenge of the Electric Car, was released in 2011. It chronicles the new resurgence in electric car technology, both by big names such as Nissan, GM and Ford as well as newer companies such as Tesla, a pioneer in the electric high-performance sports car market.
In my humble opinion, it is simply criminal that at the very least, hybrid low-emission engines with great mileage should be the standard for even the most basic models on the market today. The 100 miles per gallon car is a reality; it can, hopefully, also be a reality for American car owners.
Mr. D's Neighborhood 