This documentary is so sad... Why cant we all get past the oil industry and start doing things that aren't so short sighted? Amazing show though, very revealing.

Time to bury not bail out General Motors.

Great interesting documentary.

I would've liked to see more resources at the end on where to get the hybrid Prius plug-in modification, a website for more info regarding Iris' and her husband's warehouse or where we can find their products, etc.

I am still surprised (and not, at the same time) and saddened by what little media and buzz there was about this at the time they were taking the electric cars back, even with the activist movement.

After watching this documentary I have decided my next car will be electric regardless of cost, range, or appearance. I don't understand why we are bailing out these big companies, let them sink.

great doc. And as usual,big business is to blame. No wonder this new stimulus package was approved with corporations so far up Ottawa's and Washington's a--. Its just hard to swallow, the fact that my tax dollars are now being thrown to G.M. as a lifeline. Maybe a referendum would be in order, so that the people of Canada could decide wether they support such a bail-out plan.

Where is all the electricty for those 100kilowatt motors going to come from.

bailouts to gm should be withheld until they re-commit to the electric car, admit their mistake in destroying EV-1 vehicles and the damaging effects to the environment it caused, and purge their company of any remaining managers involved this drastic historically environmentally damaging period...they must drop production of totally unrealistic vehicles like their hummer and cadillac suv's and produce affordable electric cars NOW, they have the proven technology ( EV-1)....then, only then with gm's committment to these requirements should bailout money be made available... if gm refuses these requests, then gm should be allowed to go into bankruptcy for it's failures to respect it's environmental stewardship responsibilies, and all CEO's and senior company officers held liable for the company's failure and not only forfeit any severance and bonus packages, but be prosecuted, fined and jailed for environmental crimes.!

This is exacly why I was happy to hear that GM was nearly bankrupt and appauled by the descision of the American government to bail them out. Their greed turned them into dinosaurs and they need to be killed off in order for evolution to continue and our lives to get better. If the Obama administration really wants change, they should only give this bailout money to Car companies willing to co-operate with a serious ZEV mandate. Greed is what has caused all of todays problems and its about time we make a stand and not let it rule our way of life anymore. The American corporate ideals are to blame for selling us on this idea that greed is good, but we are all responsible for either buying in or doing nothing. Who killed the electric car? Well apparently there are many bloody hands, but aren't we also guilty for allowing, even encouraging this kind of bloodthirsty behavior to happen over and over again. LET THE CORPORATIONS DIE ALREADY.

I'm not surprised by the EV-1's tragic murder. Hell I didn't even know it existed & I'm American (proudly now living in Canada)! Once again the usual suspects (big business/coporate greed, govt ineptitude, lack of vision, misinformation, & yes insatiable consumerism) conspire to quell positve change. USA #1!

I am discouraged by the dilemma we are witnessing with the government financial bail-out of the domestic auto industry. After watching 'Who killed the Electric Car', it is clear to me that taxpayers should not be rescuing companies whose goal has been to maintain status quo of obsolete technology. From an environmental perspective, automakers have no choice but to accept the zero-emission challenge. As a Canadian, I would rather see my tax dollars go to companies with track records for 'doing the right thing', not just bolstering of their financial statements. I am not encouraged that the corporate ties to the oil industry will be severed any time soon.

To commence I would like to thank the CBC for airing the "Who Killed the Electric Car" documentary.

I have read blogs & articles frequently mentioning & referring to the documentary, but had never seen it. With the high profile of global warming & pollution issues I often wondered to myself why the documentary had not been run more often. I can only assume, perhaps wrongly, that it may have to do with TV networks not wanting to offend the oil & auto industry advertisers who provide so much Advertisement revenue.

I have since August 2007 been directly involved with the promotion of a very efficient weight & size for power electric motor developed by a Dutch technologist & patented by Frisian Environmental Developments ( www.friendev) . Their 37kw @ 15kg version has now been successfully installed in pure plug-in electric vehicles. This is just one component that is more efficient than what was used in the EV1. We see Lithium Ion Ferrite (LiFe4) battery technology is more efficient in power density than the (Nickel Metal hydride) NiMh batteries the EV1 used the technology of which was per the documentary sadly purchased by GM, then by Texaco, & shelved. Further the electronics for battery management, charging & motor control has vastly improved. Clearly the EV1 if it had stayed on the market would have made use of some or all these & other unmentioned improvements since 2006.

As I said I am very pleased to have finally seen the documentary & glad to hear the director is making the sequel "revenge of the electric car". Its amazing to think we Canadians & our US neighbors more so are bailing GM & Chrysler out.

I can however unfortunately factually attest to the hurdles I have witnessed since 2007 in trying to get electric vehicles out. Having knowledge of the Magna & Ford - Focus plug-in rolled out in Jan 08 & apparently to be put to market 2011 I can say that I could not believe how slowly things progressed. I can also confirm stonewalls with Hydro Quebec, TM4, Zenn the clear uncooperative nature of the players in the EV Quest. As well as the sad involvment & lack of coordination amongst venture capital & Federal & provincial governments & agencies.

The Dutch frustrated at the slow pace went on to work with Detroit Electric & Proton Malaysia & others & by all accounts their solution, which includes Canadian involvement will be in production & at market Q4-2009. BYD is already selling plug-in sedans in China & is poised for North American entry. Meanwhile the Michigan state gives grants for battery research to Ford, GM announces delays for its Volt sports car & a so called battery plant somewhere in Michigan. So-called because it is simply assembling wiring small Asian manufactured batteries into battery packs for the Volt. Cosmetic un-committed, token, baby steps while Asian Co's motor forward with practicality. Watching the big three is like reviewing IBM miss the ball on PC's & Gestetner miss the ball on photocopy machines. Xerox on the GUI operating system. (i.e. the fall & demise of industry leaders because of their refusal, fighting, or delays, to accept paradigm shift).

Image how much money we have transferred to the middle east , some of which financed terrorism. How many Canadian, Dutch & US lives have been lost at war. How much environmental damage we have done. All by placing all this false emphasis and purchasing oil over these years.

Well I will stop there and lets all hope we achieve the sequel wishfully named "revenge of the electric vehicle".

For a long time I've suspected big oil and the "Big Three" car manufacturers of collusion; the subterfuge they've systematically engaged in has been to keep the veritable syringe of oil addiction biting deeply into our psyches, as well as our bank accounts.
Who among you even gives a second thought to the act of swiping your credit or debit-card at the pump? You are giving the likes of Cheyney, Bush and any of their well-known (or not so well known) cronies your CASH.
Your CASH, folks.
You could own a gas-free electric vehicle -- a non-polluting vehicle run by state of the art batteries with room for 'Rover' and the groceries, and with power to spare. You might even really, REALLY want such a vehicle, but if you listen to the upper mucky-mucks at GM, they know better. They'll be happy to tell you that you don't actually want what you want, and the sad fact is, we've taught them we'll do as we're told!
It is our responsibility as consumers to TELL the "Big Three" what we want -- and buy accordingly, even if it means going without the latest-greatest bells and whistles until we get what we want. And that includes urging our family members, friends, coworkers, MPs and our wanna-bee PM to build and give us what we want because its better for our planet, and better for our pocket-books.
It is NOT our government's or the US government's responsibility to bail out GM, Ford or Chrysler -- for god's sake, what have they done for us, the very individuals and families who've kept them in business for decades?!
They ran their businesses exactly as poorly as one has to to create the result they've got. They have failed to listen to those browsing their product, and they have failed to demonstrate the creative foresight to build what they could see their customers really needed.
It is time these dinosaurs followed the example set 65 million years ago, time for them to give way to creative car manufacturers who live in the modern world.
It is beyond galling these parasites believe they have the right to demand bail-out cash.

Long live the electric car !!! It is our future.

Brilliant film.....with a hopeful ending. Given current economic and environmental conditions, those who premeditated the murder of the electric car should feel ashamed.

I was very impressed with the film. Our business is very much involved in fighting all of the factors involved. In the third world the most use vechicle is the motorcycle/scooter. Most of who we fight are the oil comapnies and their political alies.
I believe for EV to gain a solid foothold is to make some serious strive in the batterr technology field. This will take away the traditional fears in the consumer. Pet rocks were a fad for a while ..why?? because the consumer wanted it no matter how silly it seemed to some. The same will go for EV's. The fears have to be addressed and solved and the price has to be affordable, then we got something which not even the oil companies can touch. We are determeined to make a contribution and be relentless to defent our investments and our shareholders believe in our ability to make a difference and a profit.

This is such an obvious assasination by big oil. Why don't the now suffering car companies go to the oil companies for their bail out instead of the people who they so clearly do not serve!!! Absolutely appauling! And why is it that even now when the US President is looking for the car companies to develop greener cars that the fact they already have developed a perfectly working green vehicle that 90% of the population could drive just doens't come up???

Great documentary-it should be required viewing for the auto CEOs next time they come to W.D.C.. Then any "bailout" (ought to be "buy out"), would demand they have 20% of EVs on the road in five years, or face nationalization. After the Big Oil Boys see it, they will loose 20% of their tax subsidies, but enjoy an increase for investing in green energy.
Reagan and Bush were not leaders, merely well trained poodles, by the greed of those with power, but no vision. So sad is the U.S.A. Philip, Toronto

After seeing this, we should make "Big Oil" bail out their colleagues at "GM" and not us the Taxpayer!!!

A documentary so nice - I watched it twice. Although no conclusions were drawn it isn't a "conspiracy-theory" jump to conclude that the fix was in - that those with power, who had the most to gain by maintaining the status quo, were able to corrupt the powers that be be and derail public demand and sentiment. Or did they?

I say that we collectively limit our pointing the finger and start exercising our own power. I for one live in Ontario where both the provincial and federal government are set to bail out these auto makers. I am going to offer my strong sentiment to both my MP and MPP that bail out money should be devoted in whole or in part to retooling the EV1 and their equivalents. I am going to press these public servants to ensure they have seen this documentary and ask them if they are willing to put green conditions on bail-out money and use Ontario as the home for an electric car relaunch.

I encourage other readers to do the same. Maybe we can compare notes re: the response we get.

Thanks CBC for airing this great documentary. I really enjoyed watching it. I bet GM and the like are all kicking themselves in the head now that they are in trouble. If only they had the vision to stick with the EV1 they would be decades ahead of the competition and in a better position than they are in now. People who killed the EV1 are too narrow minded to see further than what's directly in front of them and beyond their own selfishness.

And for those who make comments like "Well where will the electricity come from to charge the cars? it will be just as polluting." I would disagree there because not only are such cars more energy efficient, but not all of our electricity is derived from dirty sources like coal. We also have hydro and nuclear but also newer forms of power generation like wind, and solar.

Fine documentary and well constructed.

The fate of the EV1 cars reminded me of the Diefenbaker government of 50 years ago that wiped out all vestiges of the Avro Arrow aircraft (and its power plants) after cancelling the development contracts. However, they could not wipe out the memories of what might have been, and neither will GM.

I agree with most of the sentiments posted here already, including the necessity to clean house at GM and the other automotive manufacturers who were parties to the electric car debacle. No public money to GM until they reverse course and bring out a car for 2011.

If they say that cannot be done, let them apply to build Hondas under license, or go bankrupt.

A more forward looking company would be happy to buy the plants and build what we need.

I am running a 10 year old "big 3" car and waiting for something progressive to come on the market.

Why are we waiting on private enterprise to back the electric car? Surely the government should back such a project given the enourmous impact it would have on the US economy. Relative to NASA spend, the electric car would require less outlay and provide a significant return. Just a thought. Fleur

When it comes to alternative power sources fro vehicles why do we not hear more about the water powered car. There have been many in recent years, none, as far as I can determine that operate on the principle the Genepax claims in a piece I saw on this last Fall. Apparently the chemical converter of some sort breaks apart the water molecule and the engine runs on the electrons, the elecricity if you will that is a by product of the reaction. They claim a liter of water of any kind will rune the car at 80KPH for an hour.

Go to http://www.reuters.com/news/video?videoId=84561 to see an Ad and a video on this.

The general public shoud be very suspicious of the powers that be and vested interests suppressing this kind of technology. Think of the ripple effect through the economy if everyone could access cheap power and bypass traditional sources of energy. Not to much the loss of tax revenues to governements from the non-use of traditional fuels.

I loved this doc, I loved the format, the presentation style. (Was that Martin Sheen narrating? Worked well).



I can't believe nobody mentioned natural gas. No, not as a "culprit" or a "person of interest" in this murder mystery (but then, hydrogen was brought in for questioning...). But they could have talked about NG as one of the alternatives to the electric car.



Certainly one of the points made was how hydrogen fuel cells will continue to fail as an option, so long as other alternatives are more cost-feasible.



And NG (or CNG) is definitely a viable option. So why was it not addressed?



One other note: why is the doc preamble saying that the EV1 "...used no fuel..."? That's illogical -- of course it used fuel. Every vehicle uses fuel!



In fact, not only did the EV1 use fuel, it used mostly fossil fuel! How? Well think about it: where does the electricity come from? ("My wall-plug", you reply smugly, with a wicked grin).



Yeah and how does it get to the wall-plug? "Uhhh....um.....", you mumble nervously.



Electricity throughout most of the US comes from coal-fired thermal-electric generating stations, folks. Yes, that's right, coal. And what doesn't then comes mainly from oil-fired TEGs. Coal and oil -- that's what fired the boilers to run the turbines to make the electricity that people used to recharge their EV1 batteries, smugly thinking they were 'saving' the environment.



Heck, they may have patted themselves on their backs as they plugged their EV1s in and stared across the valley at the coal station stacks, thinking how they were going to put those horrible polluters out of business ... all the while too stupid to realize that that EV1 plug in their wall was sucking its hydro directly from those coal stations they were staring at with such hatred!



And thus is illustrated the folly of the entire hippy-dippy so-called "green" anti-global warming environmental hipsters of North America. Too stupid to understand simple mathematics. The math of solar and wind power needing $24 of subsidy per Mwh to supply barely ½ of 1% of America's hydro needs. The math of understanding how much electricity still comes from fossil fuels.



Wake up people, where do you think electricity comes from ?!



The one bright spot I would suggest is that practically all the coal and oil-fired electric generating stations in the US and Canada could burn natural gas instead. In fact, there are some gas-fired thermal hydro stations in the US, but not many at present. It is inexcusable that we (North America) do not invest to convert all thermal generation to natural gas. NG is: