SOC 3116 B Technologies, World and Societies (Fall 2015)
Professor: Stephan Larose
Midterm
Who Killed the Electric Car?

Marissa Pandel
Student Number: 7487677

1. A) What is a relevant social Group?
A relevant social group is a group of people who play a role in the development of an artifact. It is a group that share common meaning to the specific artifact. (September 25th Lecture)
B) What are the relevant social groups involved in the story told by the documentary?
1. Car Manufactures
2. Oil Companies
3. Government
4. Consumer/ EV1 Owners
5. California Air Resource Board (CARB)
6. Non-users

2. A) What is interpretive flexibility?
The meaning of interpretive flexibility is various groups of peopled involved with the artifact. Relevant social groups can have very different understanding of the artifacts technical content. (September 25th Lecture) Different groups can have an influence on the development path of the artifact.

B) How did each relevant social group interpret the EV1? * The car manufactures are the inventors and engineers of the EV1. They produced it in the hopes to make a profit and meet the demand of society. They were also meeting the needs of energy efficient vehicles with the high pollution rate. They realized the EV1 was the threat. * The oil companies are the producers of energy for the competition which is the combustion engine. The success of the EV1 would be a great threat to industries demand and profits. * The Government imposes regulations such as ensuring that the proper vehicles would be produced that would benefit the country as a whole. The government did not encourage the EV1.They encouraged the Hydrogen Fuel Cell vehicle. * The consumers are the group who owned and drove the EV1 vehicles. The EV1 was a source of transportation. To the consumer the car was perfect. It was efficient and