“In 1996, electric cars began to appear on roads all over California. They were quiet and fast, produced no exhaust, and ran without gasoline. Ten years later, these futuristic cars were almost entirely gone. What happened?”

This documentary by first-time director Chris Paine seeks to provide an answer. It’s loaded with terrific information, starting with the revelation that many of the first automobiles were electric. They were quiet and could be charged at home. Automatic starters, cheaper oil and mass production gave gasoline cars an edge and by 1920, electric cars became the Beta videotapes of their day.

One of the many contributions the gasoline car made to the American landscape was smog. According to the film, a quarter of 15 to 25 year olds in Los Angeles County now suffer from severe lung lesions and respiratory disease. California decided to tackle the problem by passing the Zero Emissions Vehicle Mandate in 1990. This ordered auto manufacturers to start rolling out models that produced no exhaust if they still wanted to sell cars in California.

General Motors came through with a vehicle straight out of The Jetsons. The Ford EV (actually known as the “Impact” in development) was a slick styled 2-seater designed for commuters who traveled less than 120 miles a day. It was fast, quiet and produced no exhaust. Many who drove one became converts. The EV was not offered for sale, but hundreds of motorists ended up leasing it.

While initially complying with the West Coast mandate, the car companies decided to call the California Air Resources Board’s bluff. Faced with the possibility that the car companies just wouldn’t comply with their law, state politicians compromised. The mandate would instead be based on demand.

As the film shows, GM’s ad campaigns for the EV were atrocious and did little but scare customers away. Motorists who were interested in an electric car felt that a limited vehicle warranted a limited price, but GM only produced the EV at a clip of four a day; they couldn’t make ‘em any cheaper. The car companies made the case that there was simply no demand out there and recalled the EVs.

A grassroots group comprised of actors, activists and engineers staged a vigil outside a lot in Burbank where many of the cars ended up, but eventually, they were all hauled away to the Arizona desert to be crushed. A surviving EV is among the inventory of the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles, but GM made sure to disengage the engine to prevent it from being driven again.

A fascinating historical note here is the Japanese. Concerned the Americans would beat them in electric vehicles – apparently unaware how business and politics in the U.S. were making all of that moot – they began developing the hybrid car. These models by Honda and Toyota run on gas, but at 42 miles to the gallon. Rising fuel costs have made them extremely popular and may lead the way to alternatives to gasoline. American hybrids get 25 miles to the gallon.

Who Killed The Electric Car? has a tongue-in-cheek style that introduces the story as a murder mystery, rolling out a number of suspects in the demise of the EV. Was it consumers, who wanted SUVs, not environmentally friendly vehicles with fifteen inch wheels? Oil companies? The government? President Bush is shown and appears so uncomfortable touting alternative energy at a Shell refinery, I even had to turn away from the screen.

This is a key documentary about the ’90s, even if it is not a great film. Martin Sheen’s narration is too jovial for the dire implications being made here. Mel Gibson (before being infamously pulled over in Malibu in a non-electric vehicle), Alexandra Paul and Peter Horton appear, but a Late Show With David Letterman clip featuring Tom Hanks makes a much more impassioned and coherent pitch for the EV than any celeb who agreed to an interview.

Former engineer and EV activist Chelsea Sexton is convincing. She visits an auto dealership, where a mechanic shows the oil filters and assorted parts that would be rendered obsolete by electric vehicles. Here’s money the car companies would be pissing away on the EV, essentially. He mentions that he could work on EVs all day and not have to wash his hands, whereas he gets coated with oil just picking up a filter for a gasoline car.

It amazes me how General Motors – who had contempt for California law and did everything they could to sabotage the electric car – employed engineers who built a damn good vehicle. It would have worked and the reasons for it not working give valuable insight to the nature of business and politics in the U.S. today. I’d recommend this film for car lovers and environmentalists.