Who killed the electric car?

Keep your eyes peeled for Who Killed the Electric Car in theaters this summer. I worked for the director, Chris Paine, in Santa Monica back in '95-'97. He was the first person I knew with an electric car, the EV1. The car was very cool. It was fast, good looking, and best of all it didn't run on gas. Around the same time we even started seeing local supermarkets offer rockstar parking and free charging for your electric car while you shopped. It seemed like the way things were going.

But as some of you may know California extended its deadline for low emission cars in 1996. With the requirements to put electric cars on the road delayed not only did manufacturers stop making them, but they recalled the ones they were leasing and destroyed them.

Unfortunately I missed the early screening of this movie in SF due to the birth of my baby girl, but I'm anxiously awaiting it to come to my local theater. Chris was interviewed on PBS' NOW recently. I missed it's airing, but have found the clip below. Check it out...