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Chapter 3: Electric Vehicle History 65initially required simple “zero emission vehicles,” but didn’t specify a requiredtechnology. At the time, electric vehicles and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles were the twoknown types of vehicles that would have complied; because fuel cells were (andremain) frought with technological and economic challenges, electric vehicles emergedas the technology of choice to meet the law. Eventually, under pressure from variousmanufacturers, and the federal government, CARB replaced the zero emissionsrequirement with a combined requirement of a very small number of ZEVs to promoteresearch and development, and a much larger number of partial zero emission vehicles(PZEVs), an administrative designation for super ultra low–emissions vehicles (SULEVs),which emit about 10 percent of the pollution of ordinary low-emissions vehicles andare also certified for zero evaporative emissions. While effective in reaching the airpollution goals projected for the zero emissions requirement, the market effect was topermit the major manufactures to quickly terminate their public BEV programs.Since the electric car programs were destroyed, the market has developed anexpansive appetite for hybrid electric cars and cleaner gasoline cars. GM EV1 (seeFigure 3-15 and 3-16) and EV2, Chrysler’s Epic minivan, and Ford Ranger, as well asHonda EVPlus, Nissan Hypermini, and Toyota RAV4 and Toyota electric cars, wererecalled and destroyed. Roughly 1,000 of these vehicles remain in private hands, due topublic pressure and campaigns waged by a grassroots organizations such as “dontcrush.com” (now known as Plug In America), Rainforest Action Network, and Greenpeace.Contradicting automaker claims of anemic demand for EVs, these vehicles now oftensell for more on the secondary market than they did when they were new. The wholeepisode became known as such a debacle that it spawned a feature-length documentary,directed by former EV1 driver and activist Chris Paine, entitled Who Killed the ElectricCar?, which premiered at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival and was released in theatersby Sony Pictures Classics.9/11, Oil, and Our New Understanding for Electric CarsUnderstandably, the attack on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and the planethat crashed in Pennsylvania on September 11, 2001 clearly shows that our reliance onimported oils is damaging our national and financial security. With oil reaching overFi g u r e 3-15 The GM EV1 next to a Detroit Electric Car from 1915 (Source: Russ Lemons).