Film
Who Killed the Electric Car?
A 2006 documentary investigation into why General Motors' EV1—a genuinely innovative electric car that delighted its owners—was systematically destroyed in the early 2000s. It's a gripping, sometimes infuriating look at corporate interests, regulatory capture, and technological potential squashed by profit. Essential viewing if you care about how business actually works, not just how we're told it does.
Should you watch it?
Watch it if you like investigative documentaries that follow a corporate paper trail with the moral heat of a mystery, and you care whether a good idea was allowed to die.
Skip it if you're after a tidy, even-handed overview of energy policy, because this argues its case openly and leans on sentiment more than balance.
What it asks of you: About ninety minutes of steady, talk-driven reporting, with interviews, archive footage and a sense of anger building rather than speed; you'll need patience for the paperwork.
Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.
If you liked this
The Big Short2015
Financial systems collapsing under greed and negligence, explained for actual humans. Furious, darkly funny, and obsessed with how regulators look the other way while people profit from ruin.
But Uses fourth-wall breaks and pop culture explainers that some find gimmicky. The tone shifts wildly between comedy and rage.
Gasland2010
Another environmental documentary where industry demolishes regulation and public safety. Follows the same pattern of corporate pressure, complicit regulators, and ordinary people left holding the bag.
But Some of the science was disputed. The outrage occasionally outpaces precision. Feels like it was made in the moment, not with hindsight.
The Corporation2003
Systematic diagnosis of how corporations are legally obligated to prioritize profit above all else—the root of the EV1 problem. Interviews with whistleblowers, executives, and critics. Deeply researched.
But Nearly two and a half hours and somewhat repetitive in structure. Can feel like sitting through a seminar. The tone is grim throughout.
Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Who Killed the Electric Car?
The wildcard
Something you would not have found on your own.
Andrei Rublev1966
Both ask: what is lost when institutions suppress human potential for profit? Both show brilliant people thwarted by forces they cannot fight.
Tarkovsky's epic about a medieval icon painter who struggles against patrons who want him to create something that will make them richer, not better. The EV1 is a technical problem; this is the eternal moral one. Meditative, visually overwhelming, about what happens when commerce devours art and ambition.
But Three and a half hours of Russian cinema. Glacial pacing, minimal dialogue, not a plot. Most people find it punishing on first viewing.
More like this (6)
The Decline of the American Empire1986
Documentary about how American infrastructure, competence, and innovation have hollowed out over decades. Same DNA as EV1—systems failing because nobody with power wants them to work.
But Bleak and didactic. No humor, no hope, just evidence of decline. Exhausting if you're already demoralized.
Inside Job2010
The 2008 financial crisis explained as a crime nobody was punished for. Same story as the EV1: corporate malfeasance, regulatory failure, ordinary people paying the price.
But Charles Ferguson's narration is so acidic it becomes a character. Some viewers find the tone sanctimonious rather than clarifying.
The Yes Men Fix the World2009
Activists infiltrate corporate and government spaces to expose hypocrisy. More playful than Who Killed the Electric Car, but with the same target: showing how institutions lie about their values.
But The humor depends on your politics. Conservative viewers often feel the pranks are smug. The stakes feel lower than a documentary about destroyed cars.
Dark Money2018
Documentary about how wealthy donors secretly fund political campaigns and policy. Same machinery at work: money making decisions that benefit corporations, not the public.
But Montana-focused, which narrows the immediate relevance. Dry in places. Requires patience with procedural detail.
My Octopus Teacher2020
Both are about innovation and seeing something new. EV1 was killed by people who refused to look; this film is about looking so deeply you learn something true.
A marine biologist spends a year observing an octopus in a South African kelp forest. Seems unrelated to cars, but it's about wonder, about intelligence in unfamiliar forms, about what we fail to see. A counterargument to EV1's rage: some innovations succeed because someone pays attention long enough.
But Quiet, slow, almost meditative. If you want answers and accountability, this offers fascination instead. Some find it precious. No villains, just discovery.
The Fog of War2003
Both examine the gap between what institutions say they believe and what they actually do. Both show smart people enacting slow disasters while telling themselves they had no choice.
Errol Morris interviewing Robert McNamara about Vietnam, nuclear brinkmanship, and the decisions that led to catastrophe. Not about cars, but about how intelligent people rationalize ruinous choices. McNamara's honesty—his regret mixed with defensiveness—is harrowing. The structures of institutional failure are universal.
But Intimate, slow, and emotionally heavy. It's one man confronting his complicity. No catharsis, no redemption, just the weight of consequences.
People
Cast
Martin SheenSelf - Narrator (voice)
Mel GibsonSelf- Chelsea SextonSelf
Tom HanksSelf (archive footage)- Reverend GadgetSelf
Ed Begley Jr.Self