Revenge of the Electric Car

You can't kill an idea whose time has come. When the freeway-speed electric car first appeared on the market in the 1990s, its mass production and commercialization was abruptly -- and dubiously -- shut down. But a few short years later, behind the closed doors of Tesla, General Motors, and Nissan, the race is on to develop an affordable and stylish electric car that could win over a skeptical public.

Director Chris Paine's energetic and beautifully shot follow-up to Who Killed the Electric Car? is fueled by unprecedented access to the sweat and tears of four entrepreneurs ready to risk nearly everything: Tesla Motors' Silicon Valley wild card Elon Musk, global warming skeptic and GM's auto industry legend Bob Lutz, Lebanese-Brazilian visionary and Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn, and do-it-yourself car converter Greg "Gadget" Abbott. Beyond the environmental arguments, Paine explores the entrepreneurial charisma and sheer audacity it takes to invent both the technology and the business models needed to jumpstart the electric car in the world market. Whether or not they hit gold, the prize for success is for all of us. Sometimes change has too much momentum to be stopped.