Thursday, May 10, 2012

Revenge of the Electric Car: A Review

The environmental science class that I am teaching this term is focused on energy use. Since our time is limited, and we can't cover everything in class, I wanted to give the students an extra credit opportunity to learn more about electric cars.
It wasn't until I mentioned the 2006 film Who Killed the Electric Car that several of my students told me there had been a sequel: the 2011 film Revenge of the Electric Car. Whoops. So, to get myself caught up on the times, I watched it.
I already knew that electric cars have made their way make into the market, so there wasn't any surprising information here. However, the film focused on the struggle behind the development of these new cars... the monetary issues, the tremendous risks that individuals and companies were taking, the technological failures and successes. And, it seems, that the folks producing the cars are truly invested in creating affordable electric cars that the normal population can afford.
I can certainly say that when I dream about the future, I hope that my family will someday have an electric car that gets hooked up to solar panels or a wind turbine to charge. How awesome would it be to have a vehicle that produces no emissions, neither while being driven, or while being charged?!?
This film was an interesting glimpse at the struggle behind bringing these cars to market, and I would recommend it to anyone interested in the future of electric vehicles.

4 comments:

  1. I didn't know there was a sequel either. We're so out of the loop. :)

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    1. And then there is my family...we haven't even seen the first one! :) Sounds like it is time to watch it now that there is a sequel.

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  2. I have got to check this out! I gave up my gas car and now am a 'walker', but have been curious about the electric car.

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  3. Thanks for the tip. We've watched Who Killed the Electric Car a few times - we didn't know there was a second!

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