...engaging and discerning culture, as a way of life...

June 03, 2007

Who Killed the Electric Car? - 6

Now that is an interesting question. The film does a good job of explaining the rise and fall of GM's EV1, which was a mid 90's electric car that seemed to take off culturally and then sorta died out. When was the last time you thought about it? I'd heard of it, and then forgotten about it until seeing this film. While the film uses a Michael Moore-ish conspiracy theory (btw, that isn't necessarily a criticism) about GM being pressured by the oil industry, the footage they have seems to be a persuasive argument that they are on to something. Narrated by Martin Sheen and written and directed by Chris Paine, the film asks the question a few different way in an attempt to understand America's true past-time: driving cars. Of course no one from GM is interviewed (I'm assuming they refused rather than were not asked), which allows for the audience to pretty much settle on GM as the main target that killed its own product (This isn't to imply that the evidence isn't strong, just that other explanations are possible). The film works both as an intelligent discussion of a legitimate question as well as edited to be somewhat humorous at times and overall rather entertaining. It also gives the audience some historical context of our car culture, our addiction to oil, and the possible consequences contributing to global warming.

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