Who Tried to Kill the Electric Car?

Even though the electric car is starting to grow in popularity around the world again, over the years there have been a number of attempts to block the development and production of such vehicles but who tried to kill the Electric car? Unfortunately there are a number of suspects with regards to blocking the development of the Electric vehicle market which include:-

General Motors
In the 1990s General Motors was involved in the production of an electric vehicle known as the EV1 which was the first mainstream electric vehicle to hit the market. The introduction of the vehicle was made possible by changes to various emission laws in California and with the backing of the Californian authorities it seemed set to change the marked forever. However, without notice GM withdrew the EV1 from the marketplace and despite spending over $1 billion on research and development the project was mothballed.

Oil-rich countries
One of the main losers as and when the electric vehicle market becomes main stream will be the various oil-rich countries around the world which earn billions and billions of dollars supplying the fuel to power traditional vehicles of today. There is a feeling that pressure has been put on various governments around the world, including the UK and US, to try and block the development of electric vehicles as long as possible.

Governments around the world
When you consider that countries such as the UK earn billions and billions of pounds from the taxation of petrol (with some suggestions at more than 70% of what you pay on the forecourt is paid to the government) the introduction of electric vehicles would reduce this income substantially. However the UK is not alone in potential loss of income as and when the electric vehicle market goes mass market and many governments around the world appear to have done their best to block the development of the electric car.

For further information and further discussions with regards to the development of the electric car market please visit the Electric Forum The latest electric vehicles, regulations for this new market and news of future developments are discussed in depth.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Mark_Benson