More on Electric Cars, with Chelsea Sexton

Recently, I got to feel like an important reporter when I was able to ask Chelsea Sexton, the leading protagonist in the new film Who Killed the Electric Car?, some questions about electric cars, the film, and the future.

Read on for the interview! And just for reference: three related posts.

gM: It seems to me that we heard nothing about electric vehicles prior to the movie, and now we have several EV vehicles that will be releasing over the next year or so. I’d like to know how the movie has changed the industry’s plans as far as EVs are concerned. How much of an impact has this movie had on the automobile industry and on state governments? What can we expect to see in the future?

Chelsea Sexton: Prior to the film coming out, there were thousands of electric vehicles on the road (GM even sent some EV1s to Broward County, even though it wasn’t one of our markets), but the auto and oil industries have also done a terrifically successful job of marginalizing both the cars and the people who embraced them. Between misinformation campaigns and outright legal action against the most visionary state air quality policies, they’ve succeeded in convincing policy makers that electric cars are not ready for prime time.

Who Killed the Electric Car? holds a number of suspects accountable for their part in killing the last generation of electric cars, and shows just how hard it is to change the status quo. It is premised on the fact that we, as stakeholders in the future, make better decisions when we have more information. It demonstrates just how clearly electric drive is a main component in the portfolio of solutions to our addiction to oil, and compellingly demonstrates how we all have a responsibility to help get this nation out of the 20th century.

In the wake of this film, consumers and policymakers are becoming reinvigorated and are taking new action. For the policymakers, this means creating new, appropriate policy to both mandate and incentivize electric cars and plug-in hybrids; consumers, for their part have started to demand better cars from automakers. Both of these are key; we have to ask for what we want, and refuse to settle for less, or we will remain dependent on petroleum and be held hostage to the vulnerabilities of that dependencies.

We are beginning to see encouraging signs from the automakers toward plug-in hybrids: one car that marries the best of electric cars with the best of hybrids, creating one car with 20-40 miles of electric range for daily commuting, and a back-up fuel tank for longer distances. In the meantime, there are several smaller companies who are refusing to wait for the Goliath companies, and are taking it upon themselves to create a new generation of attractive, high performance electric cars. There’s room in the market for both, and more choices can only be better for consumers who, for a multitude of reasons ranging from national security to environmental concerns, are looking for their own ways to drive better.

gM: Do you believe that we will start to see infrastructure being built again in the near future, such as the charging stations featured in the film?

Chelsea Sexton: Most of the CA infrastructure still exists, believe it or not, and is used by the nearly 1,000 EVs that we saved through the various protests and campaigns. The Electric Auto Association voluntarily maintains these charging stations, and expands the network on occasion (most recently from Northern CA to Reno).

In terms of more official expansions, I think that will be tied to cars coming out. The Tesla, which was just unveiled, has a ~250 mile range. Therefore, the company believes that people will be less reliant on public charging in general for the day-to-day stuff. Plug-in hybrids, with a 20-40 mile range and a back up hybrid system that uses gasoline, ethanol, etc., are what we’re more likely to see from the more major manufacturers. On one hand, because you can put gas in it for longer distances, people may be less likely to charge when they’re out and about. On the other hand, because they’ll likely charge from a 110v outlet (as opposed to full EVs that charge off 220v), you can quite literally plug them in anywhere, so the network will be very easy to expand.