In the late 90s electric cars were popping up all over California. These were not hybrid vehicles—they ran without gasoline and had zero emissions at the tailpipe. These were not powered by hydrogen fuel cells—they ran on currently available battery technology and were charged on the grid.
They were reliable.
They were fast.
They were functional for about 90% of the US market.
They were discontinued.
Manufacturing was stopped. All of the existing electric automobiles were taken off the road, crushed and disposed of. Who is responsible for the death of the electric car and why did this happen?
The documentary "
Who Killed the Electric Car" was released earlier this year to select theaters in the US. If you weren't able to catch it when it was in your area, it looks like the screening version has just been
posted to removed from Google Video. Now we can all
watch it imagine it playing on our computers, presumably without driving to the theater in our gas-guzzlers.
Update: Shortly after posting this, the video was taken offline. I've replaced the video with a PBS interview with the film's director, Chris Paine.
Update 2: Who killed the electric car videos? The PBS interview is now gone as well. Oh well, no electric car for you. No movies about them either.
Pacific Gas & Electric Co. have come up with a prototype 
