Film Reactions - Who Killed the Electric Car?

For Who Killed the Electric Car?, director Chris Paine takes an active look at the rise and fall of the electric car at the turn of the twenty-first century. Using narration by film star Martin Sheen, emotional interviews, diverse sources of media, and original narrative segments, this film successfully conveys a message that is convincing and worthwhile.

At the end of this film I found myself believing in Chris Paine's message. He takes great care to look at several different angles to come to a final conclusion. He interviews consumers, former and current GM employees, government officials, politicians, celebrities, hydrogen fuel cell experts, automotive marketers, and oil company affiliates. This wide range of views gives the film a healthy mix of academics and emotion.

That mix of fact and feeling is present in segments of former EV1 owners watching their beloved cars taken away, learning that all the EV1s have been destroyed, and protesting to save the remaining electric vehicles. One of my favorite segments is when the EV1 is paralleled with the Hummer H2. In a dramatic creation the two vehicles race to "Life's Been Good" by Joe Walsh. As different statistics are presented on screen, one vehicle takes the lead of the other until the H2 pulls far ahead.

Great moments of fact include talking to the hydrogen experts who reveal that fuel cell technology is still twenty years from marketing. The film also reveals the increasing profits of oil companies year after year as well as actual corporate, California government, and national government documents pointing toward the removal of electric cars.

What left me most impressed was the optimistic ending. I enjoyed this because this was not a "the earth is doomed" documentary but a "there is still hope" documentary. The future for an electric car still looks bright according to the film. I do not feel this film manipulated me into its message but successfully got me thinking. After the film ended I still had questions I wanted answers to and so began my own research. I discovered that the film was right about the future. Nissan will be releasing the LEAF in December of this year--a fully electric vehicle.