Who Killed the Electric Car?

-Debunking Myth about EV1, the Crushed Miracle!-

<Jaurim(Purple Rainforest) - "EV1" from 8th Album>

It might be quite moving to listen to this music while reading the tragic story of EV1!!!

  In the last decade of the millennium, the California Air Resources Board passed a zero-emission vehicles act, which required major automobile companies to make and sell cars with zero-level pollution emission. Following this mandate, General Motors invented a miraculous state-of-the-art electric car. It took less than 10 seconds to accelerate to a speed of 100km/h from stationary state, and it could speed up to 130km/h. Fuel was not an issue since the unbelievable car ran for 4 hours once it was electrically charged for only 10 minutes. The name of this amazing car was EV1. 

  EV1 was available on lease in the Southwest regions of US at first, but its popularity had skyrocketed and more and more consumers were eager to drive the fascinating electric car. Because the lease-fee wasn’t too high(about $400 a month) and there were more than 150 charge stations in the country, most people were satisfied with the electric car. EV1 seemed like the perfect solution for the environment as well as the consumers’ exacting demands. 

  However, the tragedy of EV1 developed because of its rising popularity and perfection. Many people suspect the oil companies and conventional automobile-related enterprises as virtual “murderers” of the electric car. Because this car did not need any petroleum, its popularity posed much threat to the oil industry. Also, other major car companies and enterprises related to conventional automobile parts were probably not happy with EV1 due to its competitiveness regarding economic and environmental aspects. Due to the massive lobbying from such interest groups, the zero-emission vehicles act was repealed, and car companies won in a lawsuit against the state government to succeed in compromising the strict mandate to “low-emission vehicles” instead of vehicles with no pollution at all. Under the heavy pressure of such major industries, all EV1s were recalled from its lease contract and junked in the lonely deserts of California not many years later. 

Many activists still blame the oil and car industry for the sabotaging of the poor little EV1, which could have become a milestone for eco-friendly cars. Their arguments are highly convincing, but there is yet another point of view, or rather an explanation to the story of EV1. General Motors brings up financial issues and limitations for the causes of the recall, rather than blaming oil and other automobile industries. Spokespersons from GM have repeatedly argued in various interviews that the recall of EV1 was because the production expense was far greater than the profit by lease, and GM was not ready to invest in eco-friendly automobile problem enduring such heavy deficit. 

  The controversy about the sabotaging of EV1 is still a big issue, now that environmental problems are becoming more and more important than ever. We do not know the exact reasons and causes for the massive recall of the electric car, and we probably will never know, but one thing for sure is that if EV1 was still widely used, the humankind might have been in a much more better position in terms of the environmental problems than as it is 10 years after the death of EV1.