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Movie Review: Where Is The Electric Car? Greening America

By Serita Stevens

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 Released by Celebrity Home Entertainment and produced by Scott DuPont, the movie, What Is The Electric Car? answers questions and debunks myths about what we think of as our newest mode of transportation. 


Where is the Electric Car? The Tango 600

Though Warren Buffet predicts that by 2036, all our cars will be electric.  The facts are that the electric car is not as new as we might think.  The first electric car was designed in 1832 in Scotland.  By the turn of the century, 80% of the cars were electric.   When gas came along, the car began fading out.   In 1939, the last electric, The Detroit Electric was produced.  By then, Ford has claimed hold to the market and his cars, with gas being so much cheaper, became the popular demand.   In 1950's, the golf cart started a resurgence.  By the 1970's, gas had become more expensive and people began exploring the idea of an electric car again.   It wasn't until the 1990's, however, that California challenged auto producers to find an alternative to the gas crisis. 


Many people still think of the golf cart as the electric car, but options for the electric car have increased greatly, as have the acceptance of plug in stations at various workplaces, malls, schools, etc.  "You don't need an extension card," states Mike McQuary.  Many places. as LAX, in fact, offer free parking for electric cars.


Theatre Review: Where Is The Electric Car? Petersen Auto Museum Curator Leslie Kendall and Director Ken Grant in front of one of the first GM EV-1

 If you consider that the average driver goes less than 100 miles/day and the car, supposedly, has a range of 240 miles on a charge, it makes sense.  In fact, most of our auto jaunts are 20 miles, or less. 


There are now many types of electric cars, states Bruce Gast of electriccar.com Hybrids, which use half gas and half electric - going as far as it can on the electric before switching to gas as needed, seem to be the most popular right now, says Linda Nicholes of Plug In America.


The quiet  cars can go from zero to 60 in 3.9 seconds. They are not the slow bugs that we once thought.  They are also, while still expensive, coming down in price as the cost of the battery drops.  It takes about seven years of ownership to make the car worthwhile, states owner Rick Pamplin, but I doubt many people will be getting rid of it after the seven years.  One of the reasons is that there are so few repairs needed.  You don't have a radiator, hoses or traditional motor.  They're also less expensive to insure since these concerned law abiding drivers have fewer accidents.


Many people, it appears, have two cars.  One gas guzzling for the long across America jogs and the other an electric for the short trips to work, school and the like.   The average cost for the charge is 10-20 cents! Electric conversion is becoming more and more popular even in the ordinary cars.   According to Paul Scott of Plug In America, almost any car can be made electric. 



Tjheatre Review: Where Is The Electric Car? Fabio with Scott duPont

For those that like the option of white lining during freeway blockages, there is also the mini electric car.   There are varieties made from Rolls and Toyota, to Chevy, CODA, Honda and Nissan.  Besides, regular charging up the cars, some will run on solar power and others on pure vegetable oil. 


Theatre Review: Where Is The Electric Car? Producer Scott duPont, Jay Leno and Ken Grant

Actor Ed Bagley Jr puts out this thought.  Considering our dependence on foreign oil and the wars we have fought over that product, the rise in greenhouse gas emissions, and the current cost of gas, isn't it time that we consider electric cars?  It's something that keeps the jobs here in America, as well. 


The movie will be available at major outlets, as well as NetFlix, i-Tunes, Hulu, Amazon and BigStar.tv.  For more information go to www.WhatistheElectricCar.com ; for a comparison on models and pricing, go to www.pluginamerica.com.


Published on Mar 01, 2012

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