11 years after “Who Killed the Electric Car?”

On this day in 2006, a controversial murder mystery documentary debuted: Who Killed the Electric Car? from writer/director Chris Paine. The film was the third highest-grossing theatrical documentary of 2006 and screened with An Inconvenient Truth in many markets.

The film investigates the events leading to the quiet destruction of thousands of new, radically efficient electric vehicles. Through interviews and narrative, the film paints a picture of an industrial culture whose aversion to change and reliance on oil may be deeper then its ability to embrace ready solutions.

Take a look at the trailer:

In 2012, as Paine saw electric cars coming back from extinction, he made a follow up film, Revenge of the Electric Car. Check it out:

Today, electric cars are in demand, thanks in part to environmental awareness. Currently more than a half million electric vehicles are on the road today.

And many cities are embracing them to become carbon neutral. Check out Menlo Spark who is in the driver seat in Northern California to kick gas by supporting alternative vehicles to reduce carbon emissions.