“What really powers electric vehicles like the Chevy Volt” is not a question GM Environment and Energy Policy executive Kristin Zimmerman is comfortable answering, as you’ll see in today’s must-watch clip.
“Everybody thought we killed the electric vehicle,” Zimmerman told reporters in Lansing, Mich. on Thursday, referencing the automaker’s long-dead EV1 from the late ’90s. It was even the topic of a mocking 2006 documentary, Who Killed the Electric Car?, narrated by lefty activist and occasional ham actor, Martin Sheen.
“But no, we didn’t,” Zimmerman bragged after showing off a brand-new Chevy Volt and charging station. “It’s alive and well.”
Then things went south when someone asked, “So what’s charging the batteries right now?”
Just to be clear, Zimmerman is no dummy. She has multiple degrees, including a Ph.D. in Engineering Mechanics. As you’re about to see, it isn’t that she doesn’t know the answer — it’s that she doesn’t seem to want to admit it while showing off GM’s renewed EV efforts.
“Well, it’s here,” Zimmerman said. “It’s coming from the building.”
You can’t make this stuff up. Just watch the clip already.
When pressed, Zimmerman said, “Actually, Lansing feeds the building,” referring to the local utility company. “Lansing feeds power to the building.”
“I bet you they’re a bit of coal. Oh, they’re heavy on natural gas, aren’t they?”
No.
Peter Lark, from the Lansing Board of Water & Light, said, “Our grid… is about 95% coal.”
And there you have it, folks: The Car of Tomorrow, powered by the dirty fuel of 19th Century locomotives.
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