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Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Review: Chris Paine's "Revenge of the Electric Car"



Hi folks -- finally got a copy of of the recently released "Revenge of the Electric Car" and viewed it this evening. Not as shrill as "Who Killed the Electric Car," and quite different in focus. Whereas "Who Killed the Electric Car" centered on the car,the EV1, this film was all about people -- Bob Lutz, Elon Musk, Carlos Ghosn, Dan Neil, and "Gadget." The character portrayals are excellent and I recommend the film for no other reason than that. "The Revenge" traces developments between 2008 and 2010, and does end a bit flat, but then the electric car right now is in sort of an "equilibrium" in terms of future developments. With the production of the Volt halted for the next five weeks due to a disappointing demand (not a surprise since it is a car in search of a market), one wonders will the transition to a zero emission motor vehicle world and electrics proceed at a slow pace, or will events push things along beyond current levels? Like many others, I do feel that the future is in electrics, and not hydrogen or natural gas, but "when" is the $64,000 question. If we in the U.S. wait long enough, we may just find ourselves in the slow lane of technological change and economic growth.

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