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Who Killed the Electric Car?

  • 2006
  • 1 h 32 min
  • United States

Overview

Who Killed the Electric Car? is a 2006 American documentary film directed by Chris Paine that explores the creation, limited commercialization and subsequent destruction of the battery electric vehicle in the United States, specifically the General Motors EV1 of the mid-1990s. The film explores the roles of automobile manufacturers, the oil industry, the federal government of the United States, the California government, batteries, hydrogen vehicles and consumers in limiting the development and adoption of this technology. After a premiere at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival, it was released theatrically by Sony Pictures Classics on June 28, 2006. A follow-up documentary, Revenge of the Electric Car, was released in 2011.

Runtime
1 h 32 min
Released
2006-01-23, Worldwide
Countries
United States
Original language
English

Release history

  1. Worldwide
  2. United States
  3. United Kingdom
  4. Australia

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Production and reception

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Reception

On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an 89% approval rating based on 105 reviews, with an average rating of 7.19/10. Metacritic, another review collator, reported a positive rating of 70, based on 28 reviews polled. Manohla Dargis of The New York Times wrote, "It's a story Mr. Paine tells with bite. In 1996 a Los Angeles newspaper reported that 'the air board grew doubtful about the willingness of consumers to accept the cars, which carry steep price tags and have a limited travel range.' Mr.

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