Our friend John McElroy isn't the only person out there who thinks that General Motors should dust off the old EV1 program and re-release it for public consumption again. Apparently, a passionate electric car enthusiast copied Mr. Bob Lutz himself on a letter suggesting that the EV1 needs to be brought back with its original lead-acid batteries. Remember, though, that Lutz is extremely involved in the Volt project, so it's not too surprising that he had plenty to say in response to the letter. In fact, Lutz echoes many of the sentiments expressed by our own Sam Abuelsamid, who recently wrote about the difficulties of reviving the long-dead program. Lutz highlights the fact that the General lost one billion buckaroos on that program the first time around and balks at the suggestion that lithium ion batteries are not yet ready for primetime. According to Lutz's response, the Volt's battery pack will not delay its launch. For our part, we're content to see the Volt picking up the pieces left by the loss of the EV1.

[Source: LA Times]

it may not be the most original take on the question of why we don't have a robust EV infrastructure in America today, but Michael Kanellos's post over on CNET on just who killed the electric car is nonetheless a very good read.

Take this line as an example: "This is General Motors and Ford Motor we're talking about. U.S. automakers are the last bastion of industrial feudalism on the planet. The most innovative things they've come up with in three decades are the cupholder and the Lee Iacocca goggle glasses. (It was a huge fashion statement back in the '70s, kids.) These people are going to engineer a global conspiracy that eludes regulators around the world, financiers and competitors? GM execs are more concerned about who gets named to the Rolling Hills Country Club membership committee."

You like? There more where that came from, but if you're pressed for time the takeaway point is that making a "real" EV for the masses is no easy task, and the difficulty means there are a lot of reasons why no automaker has tried since the EV1 and RAV4 EV and Ranger EV went away. The success of hybrids, trouble with building a better battery, the inherent difficulty in making and selling cars and - very importantly - cheap customers are all to blame.

I heartily disagree with Kanello, though, when he says that understanding something by "follow(ing) the money", is something only crazy people do. There's a lot that gets revealed when we look at financial motives.

[Source: CNET]

The press and consumers alike are already questioning so-called green cars like the pricey hybrids from Lexus as to just how "green" they really are. The same goes for the Prius, as the well-known debate over whether the "well to wheel" environmental cost is not only just not worth it, but worse than even the "anti-green"-est vehicle than them all, the Hummer H2. We're not really collectively buying that particular argument, but it would be a hard sell to convince anybody that the vehicle in the above video is green in any way. Sure, the e-Jet might have started as a plug-in electric GM EV1, but as soon as the jet engine was attached to the rear end, it lost any and all of its eco-conscious credibility, while undoubtedly picking up some other types of street-cred.

[Source: Youtube, thanks for the tip, Joseph]

The first time that The Truth About Cars wrote about the Tesla Roadster, the results were less than thrilling to fans of the electric sports car. They have since decided that the vehicle is worthy of another of their editorials. This time, how will their readers react?

In this latest editorial, the fundamental issues of electric vehicles are considered: range and speed. The article mentions that electric cars already have quite a history behind them, from the early 1900s all the way until the GM EV1 hit nearly a century later. The article focuses on the perceived shortcomings of using lead-acid batteries and rehashes all of the known questions surrounding new advancements in lithium ion batteries. Those known questions, oddly enough, surround the unknown quantities of the batteries, because they have yet to see widespread use in electric vehicles.

Their conclusion? "Hard-core EV freaks and eco-poseurs are going to love the Tesla, despite the fact it doesn't have room for a suitcase or a couple of bags of groceries."

[Source: The Truth About Cars]

A couple of years back fans of the GM EV1 electric car got very upset when GM decided to take back all the cars that they had leased. Someone even made a movie about it. There was a big uproar over the fact that the EV1s were the be crushed. However, not all of the cars were in fact destroyed. Some did survive. One then resides in the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, MI. On another edition of AmandaAcrossAmerica from Madison, WI, Amanda Congdon discovers the second life of another EV1. GM removed the controllers from some of the cars and donated them to universities for research work.

One of the schools that received an EV1 was the University of Wisconsin - Madison. The engineering school there has completely refurbished the EV1. Glenn Bower and his students have replaced the power-train and batteries, developed new control software, and calibrated the vehicle. They use the car for giving students practical experience in electric and hybrid vehicle development. In addition the engineering department at the school is working with Ballard on testing their new control systems that will be applied to fuel cell vehicles in development at Chrysler and Ford. Check out the video at AmandaAcrossAmerica.com.

[Source: AmandaAcrossAmerica.com]

You don't have to spend much time talking with Chelsea Sexton to realize she is passionate about electric vehicles. Sexton has been part of the EV debate that started in the 1990s with the debut of General Motor's first mass-production all-electric vehicle, the EV1. Sexton worked for GM, leasing the EV1 to customers and working on marketing strategies, until late 2001, when she was laid off and GM stopped the EV1 program. The EV1's story is told in the new film "Who Killed The Electric Car?", which features Sexton and others talking about the strange fate of the cars that were once hyped by Hollywood stars, then found a fanatic consumer base, and are now out rusting in the desert. Sexton found time for an exclusive Q&A with AutoblogGreen.

ABG: Do you think "Who Killed The Electric Car?" accurately portrays the EV1 story?
Sexton: I do, actually. I've been really proud of Chris [Paine, director] and Dean [Devlin, executive producer]. That is part of what has enabled all of us to have a good level of trust going into it because it is their story, too. The director and the executive producer were both drivers of these cars [EV1s]. We knew they'd do right by the story. I've been really impressed with how well Chris told that complex story in a precise and compelling way.

ABG: How did you get involved in the film?
Sexton: (laughs) I leased them their cars. I've known Chris for about nine years and I actually leased Dean his car but also his father Don Devlin was one of my very first drivers, the guy to whom the film is dedicated. In some ways, Don is responsible for our ability to tell the story with such accuracy because he was, from the very beginning, saying the auto companies do not want to do this and he made us pay attention all along. It was very rewarding to get to tell the story for Don in the end.

ABG: There is a scene in the film where you go see an EV1 in an underground parking garage, I think in a car museum. Is this the last EV1 in existence?
Sexton: No. There are about 40 that GM gutted and donated to museums and universities, basically in an effort to get some brownie points in the end, I guess. The Peterson [Automotive Museum] got one of them. Another one that is kind of making a lot of waves right now is the one in the Smithsonian because they got the only intact car, but they just removed it from display. The Washington Post wrote a big article on it a few days ago. The other interesting component is the wing that the EV1 sits in was paid for by General Motors. GM donated $10 million to the museum and now, on the eve of the film coming out, they remove the car. There's no conspiracy theory involved, but it certainly is a big coincidence.