Customer Ratings & Reviews

The movie begins with a mock funeral for the electric car which seems heavy-handed and corny. But when we revisit the "funeral" in the middle of the film, it seems truly appropriate--and sad. The electric car program that was launched in California failed due to a number of reasons---and they're not all what you'd expect. The documentary serves as a warning to people who let important changes fall by the wayside. Hydrogen cars are not the only answer to our addiction to oil and gas: an electric car powered by wind-, solar- or hydro-produced electricity is generally "greener" than one powered by hydrogen. A mix of vehicles is called for, and the first chance we had to start phasing in this approach on a large scale failed. But beyond the message, the film is ENTERTAINING! Funny, emotional, and a bit of a thriller, it will engage you throughout. Mel Gibson, Ed Begley Jr. and other celebrities were as much a part of the story as everyday citizens. And a hero emerges in the end. How often do you get to be entertained and informed at the same time?

"Who Killed the Electric Car" is a short documentary about the electric car and its technology and their disappearance from the roads. While the film itself does not make a strong case through the presentation of statistics or "expert opinions," it does appeal to common sense. In a way, the rise and fall of the electric car is a strange kind of "conspiracy." It all happened to so fast that very few people seem to even remember the technology involved or the cars themselves. The most telling part about the story is how odd it was that after the lease on the electric car was up, every last one of them was rounded up and none of the people who had leased one even had the option to buy or renew. A viewing of this film will really make one think about how our country works. The whole market just imploded. With all of the noise being made about Hydrogen fuel cells and ethanol, I can't help but think that there was already a viable solution out on the market. Maybe it was too viable. And maybe that's why it had to go away.

This movie exposes why the electric car was killed and it blames a number of people who are responsible for killing a car that would have made the U.S. less dependent on foreign oils and would have prevented further air pollution in urban areas. One of my favorite documentaries. It's very informative and very entertaining.