Who Killed the Electric Car?

This crisp left-leaning doc is bound to turn a few heads, even if the product it features—GM’s modern electric vehicle, the EV-1—was largely ignored. Following the rise and fall of the gasoline-free precursor to the hybrid, Who offers tangible proof that “eco-friendly” is not just a far-fetched concept, but an entirely plausible alternative that, for a brief moment, looked like it was going to happen.

Paine’s chronicle of GM’s love-hate relationship with the EV-1—which ended with the car company shredding the EVs in the Nevada desert—casts a wide net in the search for culpability over the car’s demise. Paine keeps his doc on an optimistic course by focusing on passionate EV-1 advocates like ex-GM employee Chelsea Sexton. As Sexton rallies drivers to stand up for cars that could, for all intents and purposes, revolutionize emission regulations, Paine’s doc wisely leaves the pity party behind.