Michael Fitzsimmons

Impact of GM Destroying the EV1

Young Tan: yes, we are behind the rest of the world. GM bought up the electric rail systems in most eastern cities decades ago and demolished them (much as they did the electric cars...) so that people in the cities would be forced to buy automobiles.

miken: as the film points out, there was demand, and it was probably the first car ever made that was not sold to people who wanted to own them. and i dont buy the cost argument either - any car that is produced in small quantities would be expensive. the electric car is much much cheaper to build than hummers and SUV's. GM's strategy was to under market and under-cut demand because their ideology was dead set against the car. why do you think they destroyed them all and wouldn't let anyone keep (actually buy) and drive them?

jackh: the internal combustion engine not only runs on gasoline, but also on air. that is why there is an intake manifold on autos. gasoline is 6.3 lbs per gallon. here is an article that will explain the emission question:
www.fueleconomy.gov/Fe...
but this article says it produces 20 lbs of CO2/gallon of gasoline..so, i guess i underestimated...

Jacamar: exactly, it wasn't made for production - that's the problem. and that's one reason GM is on its knees. again, i disagree with the cost - much cheaper and simpler to build than hummers and SUVs. wrt charging, i mentioned in the article where the electricity should come from. wrt GM, someone needs to harp on them, apparently they arent able to figure out the oil impact on hummer sales, so i thought i would try to help them out. all these issues seem obvious to toyota and honda (although toyota started making huge trucks as well...at least the have the prius).

blah: the reason the team at GM responsible for marketing the EV1 went to "hollywood types" was because GM refused to market the car like their other cars (you know, beautiful blonde chicks driving to the beach with the windows down and their hair blowing) so, the team decided to reach out to high profile people (mel gibson, ted danson, tom hanks, etc.) so that america (who is fascinated with such people) would at least get some kind of exposure to the car. the mainstream press may be over looking the issue of electric infrastructure, but i didn't in the article, nor does my energy policy:
thefitzman.blogspot.co...

the death of the electric car, killed by GM and the oil companies, was probably the single biggest reason the US economy, currency, and stock market are in the tank today. our dependency on 70% imported (and high priced oil) is simply unsustainable. if people dont wake up, the government will continue to take more and more control over our lives until the US will be unrecognizable as the great country it once was.