On a dark suburban street, something is stirring. There are no people around, but the household appliances, all the electrical devices, are acting strangely. They begin moving on their own, coming out of the houses and garages, lining up along both sides of the street. They turn as a sleek new car glides silently into their midst. We pan up and see them surround the car, as the commercial concludes with a single line of dialogue: “The electric car . . . is here.”
It’s a cinematic ad with a dramatic message. But the ad was from 1996, and the car it introduces is the GM EV1.
The car was sold through Saturn dealers, and Saturn’s advertising agency, Hal Riney and Partners (the same folks behind the “Morning in America” ad campaign for Ronald Reagan) created the spot in 30-, 60-, and 90-second versions. In a review of the ad, the New York Times quoted David O’Hare, a Riney executive creative director, as saying, “The idea of an electric car is a huge, huge piece of news.”
Or so it must have seemed. As we now know, the EV1—which was developed in response to California regulations mandating zero-emissions vehicles—ended up being discontinued after only three years, the automakers (GM included) having successfully lobbied to overturn the ZEV mandate. The cars were leased, and most ended up being crushed rather than resold once they were turned in, which fueled conspiracy theories about the snuffing out of the electric car.
With the recent news of GM’s first dedicated-electric car since the EV1, the Chevrolet Bolt, now reaching customer driveways, the promise of that long-ago commercial would seem finally to be fulfilled. Maybe someone should see if those animated appliances are available for an encore.
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