Roger Smith's green vision for GM
Roger Smith, the former General Motors CEO who oversaw the company through the '80s and had a very green vision for GM, died two days ago. Here is a quote from the LA Times by Roger about hybrid cars from an interview he did in 1990 with University of Michigan business historian David Lewis.Wait until you see what the car of the year 2000 will be ... I'm absolutely convinced it will be a hybrid, part electric, part engine.
In 1986, Roger was the one that agreed to enter GM in the Australian solar race which led to Paul MacCready creating the car that would become the EV1. In 1990, before he left GM, Roger promised that the EV1 could be made, and it was his statements that were probably the reason California created the ZEV mandate. That is not how Roger will be remembered or the way things worked out at GM.
Roger Smith is known in popular culture as the target of Michael Moore's Roger and Me, a movie about GM closing plants in Flint, Michigan and Moore's quest to try and talk to Roger about it. Honda released the first hybrid in 1999 and, as Roger predicted, GM released the EV1 but then they killed it. CEO Rick Wagoner has downplayed the potential of hybrids for years, only recently showing support for the technology. Would things have been different if Roger were CEO of GM in the '90s?
Rest in peace, Roger Smith.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Edward Mandell House 3:41PM (4/24/2008)
Roger Smith was targeted exactly because he pushed for development of the EV1. Your article is a good one however it doesn't mention what happened to the patents developed for the EV1. They are of course now owned by an oil company--Chevron. The same company that sued Toyota for producing the Rav-EV in 2002. Toyota had to cease production and to this day is forbidden from making plug-in hybrids with NiMH batteries. Ovonics, the maker of the EV1 NiMH patents is now 20% owned by Chevron and has a joint venture with Chevron to make the NiMH batteries. In the latest conference call with investors (as of April 2008)the CEO cannot say for certain if this joint venture with Chevron will be an on-going concern because Ovonics is in arbitration with Chevron and Ovonics has spent just under 2 million dollars in arbitration with Chevron. If you want to know who killed the electric car just go to you nearest gas station.
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