Revenge Of The Electric Car

You can’t help but notice that despite all the conspiracy theories, electric cars are in the news, in the reviews and soon to be in the showrooms. But they’re still considered something of an oddity. And there’s still debate about their future.

This film follows four people who could be said to each hold a compass point in the debate. GM vice-chairman Bob Lutz is signature Detroit industry. Elon Musk is the dot-com whizzkid who wants to show Detroit how it should be done – with his Tesla brand. Nissan-Renault boss Carlos Ghosn wants to put an affordable electric in every household. "Gadget" Abbott is a home inventor and one of the multitude who are converting cars to electric.

Filming for Chris Paine’s follow-up movie started very soon after he finished Who Killed The Electric Car, but a great deal of the footage – including the carmakers’ strategy and planning meetings – was under embargo until this year. That date alone suggests the automotive industry thinks we’re in a change phase.

But we still have to wait for the movie theatre industry to catch up. At the moment you’ve only been able to see the doco in selected screenings as it does the festival rounds.