Who Killed the Electric Car?
By: Mick, July 26th, 2007
I finally watched the documentary, Who Killed the Electric Car? and I have to say that it is one of the better documentaries that I’ve seen. It is slanted, as most documentaries are, but it does not disappoint from the perspective of the alternative point of view. The story is about the EV1, an electric battery powered vehicle that was rolled out by GM in the 1990s and ultimately pulled because of a supposed lack of profitability and demand. Yet the entire documentary is about people that wanted to keep the EV1 available and who were willing to pay to own one (vehicles were only available via lease).
Interesting story. But without getting into too much more detail, I think one of the strongest messages I pulled from it was that you should be aware of who you are working for and what they are doing to help (or hurt) the world around you. Cry me a river, I know. But I think if you are a person capable of independent thought, you are responsible for what it is that you do for a living. Where do you contribute? Where do you detract? Not everyone can be a school teacher or a fire figher or whatever. But we can all be accountable for what our “work” means to the world around us.
Take the time to learn what exactly your employer is doing and what they stand for. If you don’t like it, try to change things. Or move on.
Tags: jobs that matter, meaningful work, responsible employment, social impact
Entries
July 26th, 2007 at 2:38 pm
This is a great reminder. Even companies that seem to stand for one thing on the outside will often stand for something entirely different once you start work and experience the culture.
July 27th, 2007 at 10:38 am
Thanks for the comment, Rebecca. I couldn’t agree more.
February 7th, 2008 at 12:48 am
Dear Rebecca,
Although I can’t disagree with your comments. I must tell you this, nobody killed the electric car. It was just mainly about cost, the they simply cost to much to sell. Believe me, as someone who has been building custom everything for 20 years, it’s hard to get that paper when the work is done. The better the build the harder to qualify. Even though the people in the movie said that they would buy their respective cars in a heartbeat, they would not have dished the cash for the manufacturers to show a profit. Most of the EV cars of the early nineties were mainly put out to the public because the car companies had to have 10% of their vehicles have zero emissions.
Keep Up The Great Insights
PINAKI NATH JOADDER
February 28th, 2008 at 2:31 pm
Watched “Who Killed the Electric Car” recently (great documentary), then i heard that GM and Tesla are making another run at the electric car (yay for progress!) hopefully development of this technology can go on unhindered by the corporations that depend on oil consumption.
February 29th, 2008 at 11:16 am
And VW just announced a hybrid-diesel golf that will approach 70 mpg with less CO2 emissions than a Prius…
Now that there is consumer demand, it will be amazing to see what “new” technologies are revealed.