Who Killed the Electric Car?

Who Killed the Electric Car? examines the rise and fall of electric vehicles in California, focusing on the EV1 produced by General Motors. In 1996 these cars appeared on the state's roads, drawing loyal drivers who praised their quiet operation and performance, among them Mel Gibson and Tom Hanks. A decade later the vehicles had been taken off the road and destroyed. The documentary looks into the interests that shaped their fate, including the car industry, the oil business and government policy, as well as the role of battery technology and competing alternatives such as hydrogen.

Chris Paine wrote and directed the film, which runs 92 minutes and was released in the United States in August 2006. Martin Sheen narrates, and the participants include Chelsea Sexton, Reverend Gadget and Ed Begley Jr., alongside the archive material featuring Gibson and Hanks. Made for about 1 million dollars, it returned roughly twice that amount at the worldwide box office.

On IMDb the film holds 7.6 out of 10 from around 13,000 votes, while on TMDB it stands at 7.2 out of 10 from about 200 votes. A critics' rating of 7.3 out of 10 from 105 reviews places it in similar territory to the audience scores.