To date, Americans have managed to send a man to the moon more than once and yet lack the ability to produce a viable, inexpensive and mass-produced electric car.  If you’ve poked around our site (or around the web), you’ll find there are plenty versions of GM’s EV1’s.  The dream that American’s could whisk around in their cars without ever making the routine trip to the fueling station to fill up and empty your wallet was once realized, though only for a moment.  General Motors can arguably be blamed for the rise then suspicious and arduous fall of GM’s Electric Vehicle, better known as the EV1.    

In the 90s GM manufactured the plug-in electric vehicle without ever selling them to the public though instead leasing the vehicle for a moderately pricey 400 to 500 dollars a month.  What most Americans may not know is that the California Air Resources Board (CARB) passed mandates which forced automakers to produce a Zero Emissions Vehicle (ZEV), meaning the amount of ZEV’s manufactured and sold would constitute 10% of a car company’s market share in California exclusively.  CARB issued the mandate in response to growing smog-related health issues in California. In the southern California region alone, which constitutes LA, Orange, Riverside and Orange Counties among others, there were 41 stage-one smog alerts issued by the state. 

Though GM initially began research and development of a practical consumer electric vehicle in the 80’s they eventually “pulled the plug” on the EV1 lease program in the 90’s, laying off their top sales force first, recalling the vehicles despite purchase offers and ultimately crushing and destroying the entire fleet.  In 1999, GM bought the Hummer brand and soon thereafter publicly stated there was no need to produce any more electric vehicles. Thanks to http://dandelionsalad.wordpress.com/2008/05/15/who-killed-the-electric-car/ you can watch the documentary, “Who Killed the Electric Car” in full and for free and if you really get it, go to http://www.sonyclassics.com/whokilledtheelectriccar/electric.html