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Community Corner

Studio City Resident Debuts Film About Electric Cars

A special screening was held Saturday night at the Studio City Library.

With gas prices above $4 a gallon, local director Ken Grant chose a good time for the Studio City premiere of his film about the advantages of electric vehicles.

Grant's 90-minute film, What is the Electric Car?, attracted about 50 people to the Saturday night premiere, which was open to the general public at the.

Grant told the crowd that his mission with the decidedly slanted film is to “educate and motivate consumers to become electric vehicle owners, which will result in less dependency on a depleting oil supply, a greener planet and a better future for our children."

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“This film is busting the myths spread all over the country about electric cars,” Grant said. "The American public has been fed a lot of misinformation.”

Grant said he currently drives a Mazda Miata, but he is on the waiting list for a Chevy Volt, a car that can run on batteries for 90 miles before switching to gasoline power.

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The film is part fiction—a storyline of a college student trying to write a paper about electric vehicles while educating her clueless father along the way—and part documentary, with electric car industry experts to average citizens expressing their views and dispelling myths.

According to the film, electric vehicles are superior because they are:

  1. Better for the environment, because they have zero emissions and their old batteries can be reused and recycled.
  2. Less expensive over the lifetime of the vehicle in gas savings, insurance costs and maintenance, since their engines are less complicated in design.
  3. Safer, since they do not carry gallons of highly-flammable fuel.

Also, since the average commute is less than 30 miles roundtrip per day, electric cars would suit the city driving needs of many motorists; stations have popped up around the country for easy and free charging; and the range of electric cars is improving—the Tesla Roadster, for example, can go 240 miles on a charge. 

Grant said gas-to-electric conversions can be done on any car for around $7,000  to $10,000.

Following the showing, viewers participated in a question-and-answer session with three electric-vehicle owners and Grant.

In response to a question about the cost of electric cars, Tesla owner Eric Swenson pointed to the Nissan Leaf, which he said “retails in the neighborhood of $23,000." (Teslas start at $109,000.) 

The consensus of the panel on a question about battery life was that a battery in an electric vehicle can be expected to last from five to 10 years.

Each of the three owners raved about his car's low maintenance, high performance and environmental friendliness.

Panelists Brian Folb and Charlie Holmes (who appeared in the film) said they each drive electric Mini Coopers on lease, as the car is not currently available for purchase.

“We have to stop feeding this insanity that we have with fossil fuels,” Grant said in his closing remarks.

The evening also included a drawing, which resulted in one attendee winning a  Zap electric scooter, and two people winning copies of the film.

What is the Electric Car? was financed by Florida-based group Nemours Marketing. The film premiered last fall in Miami.

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