Who killed the Electric Car?

I just saw Who Killed the Electric Car? tonight and the infuriating foolishness and shortsightedness of car companies, politicians, big oil, and consumers is alarming. In the film, someone rightly points out that, based on driving statistics, an electric car with a range of 120 miles would suit the driving needs of 90% of the population. Nonetheless, in the 1990s, SUVs were the car of choice; a classic case of Americans buying more than they need. More irritating -- if only for its outright bullheadedness -- was the footage of Ronald Reagan taking down the solar panels good ol' Jimmy Carter had installed (by himself?) on the White House roof. By far the most aggravating moment of the movie came when General Motors took the remaining EV1s to be crushed in spite of the protesters offering them a check to buy all 78 of them*.

While the effect of our "addiction to oil" on the environment (and more significantly, our ability to live in it) was clearly the most important message of the film, I found another point striking. Car companies made several efforts to repeal the California legislation that forced the production of electric cars. Ultimately, they were successful in doing so in 2004 when the White House joined GM and Chrysler in suing the California Air Resources Board. However, one of the tactics taken along the way was to set up a dummy "grassroots" consumer advocacy group to push for the repeal of the policy. This group purported to be standing up against wasteful use of land (for power up stations) and for social justice (the $250/mo lease was well out of the price range of many Californians). It quickly came out that the group was backed by a trade organization called the American Automobile Manufacturing Association (formerly headed by GWB's Chief of Staff, Andy Card). Furthermore, no members (i.e., actual consumers) of the "consumer advocacy group" actually existed.

My good friend, Ed Walker (formerly of Violent Society fame), is doing his dissertation research on the firms that offer services necessary to create this kind of "astroturf" group. While these firms also provide services to legitimate grassroots organizations, the majority of the clients buying a range of social movement tactics (e.g., letterwriting campaigns, petition creation, etc.) are trade organizations and businesses. Read more about Ed's research here.

*GM claims that the breakthrough in battery technology that would have extended the range of the EV1 to meet the needs of most consumers never arrived and, therefore, the program was cancelled. That does not explain why they wouldn't let the 78 consumers who had been driving the EV1s for eight years just buy the damned cars. Moreover, some of the leasees of the car had rigged their own battery systems that successfully extended the range to 300 miles per charge.