The 18 Most Suppressed Inventions Ever Photo Gallery - The Original Electric Car: Unplugged? - Conspiracies on truTV
1. The Original Electric Car: Unplugged?
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Perhaps the most notorious suppressed invention is the General Motors EV1, subject of the 2006 documentary,
Who Killed the Electric Car? The EV1 was the world's first mass-produced electric car, with 800 of them up for lease from GM in the late '90s. GM ended the EV1 line in 1999, stating that consumers weren't happy with the limited driving range of the car's batteries, making it unprofitable for GM to continue production. Many skeptics, however, believe GM killed the EV1 under pressure from oil companies, who stand to lose the most if high-efficiency vehicles conquer the market. It doesn't help that GM had a policy of hunting down and destroying every last EV1, ensuring the technology would stall right then and there.
2. The Death of the American Streetcar
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In 1921, if the streetcar industry wasn't actually naming streetcars Desire it was certainly desiring more streetcars. They netted $1 billion, causing General Motors to hemorrhage $65 million in the face of a thriving industry. GM retaliated by buying (or pressuring out of business) hundreds of independent railway companies, boosting the market for gas-guzzling GM busses and cars. The face of American transportation was all cars, cars, cars for the next half-century. While a recent urban movement to rescue mass transit has been underway, it is unlikely we'll ever see streetcars return to their former glory.
3. The 99-MPG Car
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The holy grail of automotive technology is the 99-mpg car. Although the technology has been available for years, automakers have deliberately withheld it from the U.S. market. In 2000, the New York Times reported a little-known fact, at least to most: A diesel-powered dynamo called the
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