Review: Revenge Of The Electric Car

Satish Kondapavulur
by Satish Kondapavulur

Living in Northern California, electric cars are a common sight – all you have to do is look in the left lane. There are numerous Tesla Model S’s, Nissan Leafs, and the occasional Ford Focus or Chevrolet Spark EV. Plug-in hybrids like the Chevy Volt, Ford Fusion and C-MAX Energi, and the Prius hybrid can be seen every day. BMW is planning on releasing plug-in hybrids of its core models like the 3-Series and the X5 in 2016. Four years ago, that wasn’t the case.

Back in 2011, when the documentary Revenge of the Electric Car was released, Tesla was attempting to sell the last of their Roadsters and the Model S was still a prototype. The Volt and Leaf were about to go on sale in electric car-friendly states (like California). Gas was never below $3 a gallon that year. In 2015, there are at least 15 electric or plug-in hybrid vehicles with more on the way. Tesla is worth billions of dollars, even though it sells only one car, the Model S which in the documentary then-Jalopnik editor-in-chief Ray Wert refers to as “vaporware.” Today, gas is less than $2.50 in California.

In the Revenge of the Electric Car, director Chris Paine creates a follow-up documentary to 2006’s Who Killed the Electric Car?, which focused primarily on the mothballing of General Motors’ EV1 and investigating the reasoning behind automakers’ investing less money in electric vehicles. Paine wants to explore why large automakers like GM and Nissan are placing large bets on electric as well as find out what’s driving Tesla as well as an individual working out of a small warehouse to play in the electric vehicle market.

From 2007, the documentary follows three people who are leading the push into electric cars, Bob Lutz, Carlos Ghosn, Elon Musk, and Greg Abbott. Bob Lutz and Carlos Ghosn are portrayed as “The Man” at the world’s largest automakers, who are putting their jobs on the line in order to create electric car models. Elon Musk is illustrated as the visionary Silicon Valley CEO who is ‘disrupting’ the auto industry with his electric sports cars. Greg Abbott is the hippie who runs a cottage-industry business installing electric powertrains in classic cars, with an electrified Porsche 356 Speedster serving as a showcase of his skills.

The documentary emphasizes that building an electric vehicle is a difficult task that involves plenty of money and other resources. Bob Lutz discusses the effort he put in to get GM executives to green-light the Volt into production as GM lost plenty of money on the EV1 project. Ghosn extols the virtues of the Leaf’s affordability and mass-market appeal rather than discussing the possibilities of the project going sour. Musk expresses his views on how Tesla is the car company of the future. Abbott stresses that his electric cars are the best for the environment since he puts electric powertrains into existing cars. But none of these men know when they talk about these subjects about whether their bets would pay off.

Paine shows that not everything goes smoothly. In the case of Tesla, the documentary shows a warehouse full of Roadsters with defects that range from defective powertrains to dents on the cars’ bodies during shipping. There are meetings where Musk has to address Tesla’s cash flow problems. In GM’s case, the Volt needs to go for extra aerodynamic testing even though it debuted at GM’s 100th anniversary celebration. It also didn’t help that GM was being bailed out in 2008 and had to answer to Congress and government representatives. Abbott’s warehouse for his electric cars is burned down and his equipment is uninsured.

By 2011, when the documentary was released, Tesla had received its $400+ million loan from the Department of Energy. The Volt and Leaf were on sale and customers were just learning about their technology. Greg Abbott had finally found a place to rebuild his electric-vehicle conversion shop. Numerous other automakers such as BMW and Toyota were readying their electric vehicles. Gasoline prices weren’t seeming to go down anytime soon, and the federal and state incentives for electric vehicles were increasing. Meanwhile, America’s electrical grid was progressively turning to alternative sources of energy, making the operation of an electric vehicle cleaner. America largely knew the electric car was making a comeback.

It must be written that TTAC doesn’t come off well in Revenge of the Electric Car. During the time this documentary was being made, TTAC editor-in-chief Robert Farago was writing his “Tesla Death Watch” series of posts, screen caps of which appeared in the documentary while describing Tesla’s troubles. Though Tesla Motors was teetering on the brink when Robert Farago was writing his posts (and it took a loan from Daimler to keep Tesla afloat), the “Tesla Death Watch” comes off as shortsighted. When Paine films Musk’s reaction to Tesla’s initial public offering, Musk specifically references the “Tesla Death Watch” posts and says the people writing those posts will have to wait longer.

In my opinion, if there’s any individual who comes off as an electric car visionary, it’s Carlos Ghosn, not Elon Musk. From the start of the documentary, he seems very confident about the Leaf, allowing the film crew to shadow him to important meetings and discussions. In one conversation, he dismisses Mitsubishi’s i-MIEV, saying that it’s too expensive and won’t sell. At the 2009 Tokyo Motor Show, he evaluates other companies’ approach to electric vehicles and allows the press to hear his opinions on them. Even his answers to the press come off much better than those of Elon Musk in the documentary, when asked about the sales potential of the Leaf.

If you watch the documentary, most people who follow the automotive industry won’t be fazed by the content exhibited. Considering that GM did not go out of business, that Tesla did not fail, that the Leaf is on sale, and Greg Abbott still has his electric Speedster, and more than 20 electric and plug-in vehicles on the market, we know the electric car worked out fine. Left lanes across California during rush hour are full of them. But you should watch Revenge of the Electric Car (it’s on Netflix right now) as it illuminates the challenges endured by manufacturers to get electric vehicles onto the market. You’ll see firsthand the amount of stress, sweat, and anxiety that went into creating today’s electric vehicles.

Satish Kondapavulur is a writer for Clunkerture, where about a fifth of the articles are about old cars and where his one-time LeMons racing dreams came to an end, once he realized it was impossible to run a Ferrari Mondial. He still hasn’t driven a Nissan Leaf, despite his neighborhood being full of them.

Satish Kondapavulur
Satish Kondapavulur

More by Satish Kondapavulur

Comments
Join the conversation
3 of 89 comments
  • Voyager Voyager on Feb 16, 2015

    Wouldn't you be curious if GM had started the EV1 project let's say two years ago? It is such an interesting shape, simultaneously ultra-low drag as well as oozing "transportation of the near future". Actually, the EV1 was more ahead of its time than anything Tesla produces. In other words: the EV1 begs to start making an EV2. I wouldn't be surprised if GM could shave off substantial weight, as well as improving range. Perhaps something like this: https://localmotors.com/sevehicle/iphone-on-wheels-neither-car-nor-motorscooter/

  • Jdmcomp Jdmcomp on Feb 16, 2015

    Electric cars are in the left lane, and for that matter, in existence simply because governments at the state and federal level have given mandates that they be so. You get to drive your electric/hybrid solo in the HOV lanes (at sub optimal speeds)because "they" say you can. You can "afford" these vehicles because some government is giving lots of our tax money to car makers and buyers to "prove" there is a demand for them. This is the total extent of success for these cars.

    • Mechaman Mechaman on Feb 17, 2015

      At some point, the use of oil will be at an end. I am bothered less by the government spending money to aid electric car success than on a phony war, which has had, and will have more expensive consequences than giving money to a company making electric cars.

  • Joe This is called a man in the middle attack and has been around for years. You can fall for this in a Starbucks as easily as when you’re charging your car. Nothing new here…
  • AZFelix Hilux technical, preferably with a swivel mount.
  • ToolGuy This is the kind of thing you get when you give people faster internet.
  • ToolGuy North America is already the greatest country on the planet, and I have learned to be careful about what I wish for in terms of making changes. I mean, if Greenland wants to buy JDM vehicles, isn't that for the Danes to decide?
  • ToolGuy Once again my home did not catch on fire and my fire extinguisher(s) stayed in the closet, unused. I guess I threw my money away on fire extinguishers.(And by fire extinguishers I mean nuclear missiles.)
Next