Who Killed the Chevy Volt? Not GM.

(MoneyWatch)  Dumping on General Motors is a popular spectator sport, but if we're going to kick the once-mighty industrial giant while it's down low, let's at least get our stories straight. I have long had problems with the popular documentary Who Killed the Electric Car? GM didn't just "kill" its EV-1 battery car--the public in California and Arizona chose not to lease them. Only 600 found customers.

I covered the industry closely at that time, and wrote the book Forward Drive: The Race to Build Clean Cars for the Future (2000) about GM and other green vehicle players. GM was big enough at the time to have one arm sincerely pushing the EV-1 and another arm actively sabotaging the California emission laws that gave it a ready market. And the documentary plays down the role of Honda and Toyota, both of which marketed battery cars at the same time (the EVPlus and RAV-4) with no better results than GM's.

With GM inches away from bankruptcy, it presents a rich target. Did the auto giant dig its own grave by ignoring the clear imperative to abandon SUVs and build small cars and EVs? That's indeed part of it. But I was struck by a commentary I heard from Bill Georgevich on "The Renewable Minute" green energy radio show. "Electric car killer General Motors," he said, showcased the new Chevy Volt hybrid electric car and then "shut down the plant producing it in January 09, despite showcasing the hybrid with much fanfare at the Detroit Auto Show after receiving billions from taxpayers."

Georgevich snarled, "After finally receiving their federal billions, they shut down production of the only 100-mpg vehicle they had in development."

Now GM can be accused of many things, but shutting down the Volt plant is not one of them. Here's what the commentary might have been referencing: In December 2008, the carmaker was anxiously awaiting a government loan, and announced it was temporarily stopping production of a Flint, Michigan factory that would make 1.4-liter engines for the Volt and the Chevy Cruze. But the Associated Press story reporting this at the time also noted, "But [the] Volt and Cruze development will continue as scheduled and the company still plans to bring them to showrooms in 2010. The construction delay may be temporary until the company figures out its cash situation."

At this point, there is no "Volt plant." The car won't even be built until the end of next year, as a 2011 model. GM assures me that, despite the company's very real woes, the Volt program is still on track. "It's the number one program at GM," spokesman Dave Darovitz told me.

C'mon, let's be fair. The last thing the deeply troubled auto industry needs right now is to be accused of something it didn't even do. Especially when it actually did do so many things wrong.

Here's how Sony promotes Who Killed the Electric Car? (now available on DVD):