I don’t watch as many movies as I’d like, but I recently got around to one I’ve wanted to see for a long time, Who Killed the Electric Car?
This is a make-you-mad-as-hell kind of a movie. There’s plenty of blame to spread around (Detroit, the petroleum industry, the Bush administration, the California Air Resources Board, consumers), but it actually ends on a bit of an optimistic note. Watch the movie and see what you think.
One encouraging recent development is that Tesla Motors, which unveiled a killer performance all-electric roadster this year (their first production run of 220 units sold out at about $100,000 a throw in four months), has announced it will be opening a manufacturing plant in New Mexico for production of a five-passenger sedan, the WhiteStar.
According to a company press release, “The first cars will roll off the assembly line in the fall of 2009, and Tesla Motors will produce at least 10,000 cars each year. The vehicles will cost $50,000 for the standard model or $65,000 for a premium model with greater performance and range.” The roadster is touted as being able to travel 250 miles on a single battery charge, and also incorporates regenerative braking technology. The sedan will presumably have similar or better range.
For some detailed thoughts on electric cars and the Tesla vehicles in particular, check out this blog by Jon Mittelhauser (one of the founders of Netscape and now a venture capitalist).
Maybe the electric car isn’t dead after all.