http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5599073542041338932



So I just finished watching this documentary, and it is very very good. After watching it, I know why my friend was mad after he finished watching it in theaters. The fact that all of this actually happened is what is so crazy. If you haven't seen it yet I would suggest downloading it while it's still up on google video.

To sum it up in a paragraph or two, electric cars are not new by any means. However, all of the new cars that came out in the 1900s were based off the internal combustion engine. GM tried a fully electric car that they sold in California called the EV1. I seem to remember hearing about it on the news maybe once or twice back in Michigan, but nothing major. California had a law passed saying that any car manufacturer that wanted to sell cars within their state had to offer a zero-emissions car. The auto manufacturers didn't like the idea and sued the state of California. Soon, big oil companies and later the present Bush administration backed the car makers.

California then buckled under the pressure from the auto manufacturers and changed the law to say that auto manufacturers could sell zero-emission cars based on consumer demand. The problem with the change was that it left the judgment up to the automobile makers. As the leases ended on GMs EV1 car, GM proceeded to reclaim all of the automobile and eventually destroy them even while there were people on waiting lists for new EV1s. This happened with all of the other totally electric vehicles from Toyota and Honda as well.

Some people would rather have us look at other alternative energies rather than just electricity, like hydrogen fuel cells. However, the technology for an excellent electric alternative is here today. With fuel cells, each car costs up to $1,000,000 and there are no hydrogen refueling stations. Additionally, if there were fueling stations, the fuel would be 2 to 3 times more expensive as current oil, where as with a fully electric car we would be paying something around $0.60 per gallon.

Why would car companies and our own government keep us from driving a better more efficient more environmentally friendly car? Money. There is around 1 trillion barrels of oil left in the Earths crust, meaning that there is $70 trillion left to be made for big oil companies. Additionally, a large amount of profits for car makers is service and new parts that are crucial for combustion engines. Without any moving parts, oil, or combustion, this market is essentially destroyed. This would of course save the consumer too much money, so the car makers wouldn't allow that.

Don't get me wrong, I'm as American as the next dude about having a car that goes fast. But I'd rather forget about our dependence on foreign oil and all that nonsense. Plus, electric motors produce maximum torque right off the line! That means potentially very fast cars. With battery technology improving, especially with the application of nanotechnology, distances these electric cars will be able to go will improve. Finally with all the new ways we're finding out how to create electricity with wind, solar, and nuclear power, it only looks better for an electric car.

Dam these money hungry old people...