Who Killed the Electric Car?

Sunday May 23, 2010 at 10 pm ET/PT on CBC News Network

Fashioned like a tongue-in-cheek murder mystery, Who Killed the Electric Car?sets out to uncover who was responsible for the demise of the EV-1, an electric car considered to be one of the fastest and most efficient production cars ever built.The car used no fuel, produced no emissions and when it was introduced in the mid-nineties, catapulted American technology to the forefront of the automotive industry, creating an opportunity to capture the 'green' market. . The lucky few who drove it including filmmaker Chris Paine, never wanted to give it up. So why did General Motors crush its fleet of electric vehicles in the Arizona desert? As a new crop of hybrid electric cars make their "green debut" at auto shows across North America, Who Killed the Electric Car? investigates what happened the last time the electric car was introduced to consumers.

The mystery begins in California in the 1990s when legislators desperate to clean up the state's smoggy skies, took a dramatic step and launched a zero-emission vehicle program after seeing the prototype for a GM electric car. Under the program, two per cent of all new cars had to be emission free by 1998 and 10 per cent by 2003. With enormous hype, GM launched the EV-1 in California in 1997. In the end, only 1,000 cars were produced and the plug was pulled on the project in 2002. Other major car companies also ceased production of electric cars. As leases expired remaining cars were rounded up and literally crushed in the desert.

Was this one of the biggest blunders in the history of the U.S. car industry, or were consumers just not ready to go green? Who Killed the Electric Car? runs through the prime suspects and causes including car companies, oil giants, poorly executed ad campaigns, consumer wariness and an overall lack of government commitment Automakers, legislators, engineers, consumers and car enthusiasts from Detroit to Los Angeles work through the motives, alibis, and fallout to piece this complex puzzle together, one of those stories that in today's "green' market seems difficult to comprehend. Who Killed the Electric Car? is narrated by Martin Sheen.

The writer/director and former EV 1 owner Chris Paine (based in Los Angeles) is currently working on a sequel with the working title "Revenge of the Electric Car", ( http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/ )