Who Killed the Electric Car?
I highly recommend watching Who Killed the Electric Car, even if the documentary does drag on in places. You’ll leave the theater pumping your fist into the air, screaming epithets at Big Oil and the government, while being filled with a sudden, unquenchable desire to T.P. the GM headquarters.
On a slight tangent, has anyone seen that ridiculous Hummer ad on TV? You see a frail twig of a woman meekly trying to protest when someone else’s kid cuts in front of her son at the playground slide. The bullied mother can only stare with her mouth agape as the line-cutter’s mom brushes her sputtering aside with a snide comment. Cut to a scene of the forlorn woman signing the papers for a brand new Hummer. The slogan “Get Your Girl On” appears in big white letters as we watch the now-happy woman driving off in her monstrous hunk of combat-ready metal, while the crooner in the background tells us that “this little girl’s gonna rock1.” What is she going to do, run over the mother and son who crossed her? Flatten the playground so nobody else gets to play? Oh I know, instead of actually developing a backbone or learning to assert herself, she is going to use her global-warming-in-a-can to foul up the air with 13 times the killer-smog-forming pollution of your average 2006 SUV because THAT WILL SHOW THEM ALL. HAHA I PITY THE FOOL WHO TRIES CUTTING IN FRONT OF ME NOW! SO LONG, BIATCHES!
That ad makes my eyes bleed.
1 “Little girl” is an incredibly condescending and sexist term, especially in light of the typical phoney machismo associated with the Hummer brand.
kyrie said,
August 7, 2006 at 6:50 pm
Have you seen the man version of the Hummer commercial? Equally as horrifying.
Tracy said,
August 7, 2006 at 7:14 pm
Speaking of commericals, have you seen the PSA about climate change with the guy standing in front of the charging train. He’s talking about how climate change will impact the world in 30 years. Then he says “it won’t affect me” and moves out of the way. There’s a little girl standing behind him.
That ad pinpoints something that I don’t get. Why do those who feel that climate change if of no consequence realize that it’s not about them?
Liz said,
August 7, 2006 at 9:20 pm
This is why I don’t watch much teevee. No Hummer ads to burn my retinas.
The one problem I see with electric cars as a viable option for the masses is this: where’s all the electricity to charge them up going to come from? California has some major energy issues (I mean, even the Northeast does. In this last heat wave, New England used a record amount of electricity.) Currently most juice comes from natural gas and coal. Wind is great, but wind fields are small in number (although growing). A pretty big one is going up in Northern Maine, but it’ll only make enough electricity for 45,000 homes. Certainly not enough to sustain large populations with their incredibly large McHomes.
An electric car sounds like the perfect solution, but it’s not sustainable, either. It would be nice to see auto manufacturers put more effort into developing smaller, lighter cars that get high mileage. My Civic gets close to 40, but a friend who had a Civic hatchback got close to 60. The technology is there, it’s just being underutilized while Americans continue to have penis-envy…. I mean a love affair with the SUV.
Also, I am pro-hybrid, but am often discouraged that auto makers seem to be focused on larger cars that have powerful engines. I don’t need no v-6 Accord! What the hell? The batteries are a concern of mine, too, though. It’s a lot to think about, and each “solution” offers up a new set of problems. Or so it seems.
Christine said,
August 8, 2006 at 1:11 pm
I haven’t had a car in 6 years, and let my driver’s license expire five years ago. I’m an urbanite, so it’s only an issue when I want to transport large pieces of furniture, which is maybe once every two years. I don’t have to buy a car or get a license to get that done, though.
My point is I don’t think a car (or more) per household/person is sustainable with any kind of car, nor is it necessary. There is some serious downsizing and re-evaluating that needs to go on.
And btw, electric cars can be charged with solar panels. Tapping into the grid isn’t really necessary.
Michelle said,
August 8, 2006 at 10:33 pm
I was wondering if I was the only person that ad made crazy. Now, every time I see a Hummer, I find myself looking to see if there is a woman with a small child in there looking for revenge? self-confidence? courage?
Surely this isn’t the image that the Hummer people wanted to project….INSECURITY. Haha. Hope this ad campaign bites them in the ass.
Liz said,
August 9, 2006 at 8:49 am
Yes, solar panels. Which are very expensive, and require large amounts of silicon to make them. Silicon is currently in shortage, and will be so until 2008. New technology is bringing us thin-film solar panels, which aren’t as efficient at capturing energy (although they are less expensive). Storage of solar-generated energy is also problematic, especially if you’re off-grid (which most people in densely populated areas aren’t… they’d be more likely to be grid-tied). Toxic batteries are the answer, with their associated expense, maintenance issues and limited lifespans. If you are planning to recharge your electric car off your solar panels each night, you need to make sure you have a large enough array to provide for the car *and* your household. At a cost of $4/watt, who but the affluent can afford this? It’s definitely not a solution for the masses.
I am not anti-solar (in fact, I’m planning for a grid-tie system down the road). I’m just a realist who understand that each “solution” offers up a new set of problems, as I said above.
(Sorry for hijacking your comments, Jasmin, but I just had to respond to this)
Christine said,
August 9, 2006 at 9:12 am
Thanks, Liz. I just wanted to point out that established sources (such as the grid) aren’t always the answer. I don’t think there is any one solution, but many that work to varying degrees.