Electric Car Designer: Who Killed the Electric Car? Reality Did

Here's an excerpt from an excellent editorial by Gary Witzenburg, a former auto engineer who helped design the GM EV1, the early '90s electric car that left-wing conspiracy theorists think the big ol' meanies at Big Oil killed. Suffice it to say, Witzenburg was nowhere to be found on the taxpayer-funded infomercial for "Who Killed the Electric Car" on the June 9 edition of "Now with David Brancaccio."

Here's an excerpt of his August 8 "Another View" editorial in "USA Today":

Widespread acceptance of battery-powered EVs will not happen until someone develops battery technology competitive with a tank of gas (or diesel) in every way. It must be absolutely safe, long-term durable, capable of operating reliably in extreme weather and temperatures, mass-producible at low cost, able to carry comparable energy in a package of comparable size and weight, and able to be quickly recharged. None comes remotely close.

As manager of testing and development for GM's Advanced Technology Vehicles from 1991 to 2000, I was intimately involved with the ultra-high-tech car called EV1.

We knew the market for an expensive two-seater with very limited range would not be strong, but we reasoned that multi-vehicle households could happily embrace one small, short-range car. We also knew that long-term success would depend on battery technology.

We worked hard to prepare our 1999-model EV1 for optional nickel metal hydride (NiMH) batteries that nearly doubled its range. But the lithium-polymer chemistry then being developed by the 3M company and others, which promised gas-competitive cost and range, never panned out.

In other words, reality killed the electric car.