There are many answers to the central question of the new film Who Killed The Electric Car? - General Motors, the oil industry, the automotive industry, politicians, consumers. But a strange new culprit is eager to get their fingerprints on the dagger: the Smithsonian Institute.

In 1996 General Motors developed a breakthrough automobile that ran completely on electricity, then pulled it from the market despite a waitlist of 5,000 eager drivers. This week, the transportation wing of the Smithsonian Institute pulled the electric car from display, within days of the new film’s release. In its place will be a car the Washington Post called “a souped-up SUV.”

GM, which donated the EV1, happens to be one of the Smithsonian Institution's biggest contributors. A $10 million gift in 2001 paid half the cost of the history museum's new transportation exhibition hall, which was renamed to honor the benefactor. But museum and automaker say the EV1 was removed from view with no thoughts of public reaction to the movie or the display.

Absolutely not – it is, after all, the National Museum of American History. Their job is to depict American history. Other plans to reflect complete historical accuracy include rearranging the polar bears in the arctic exhibit so they’re cannibalizing each other, and changing “Life In A Telecommunications Office” so all the signs out the window are in Hindi.

To enhance the experience of the new SUV exhibit, there will be an overhead fan blowing shredded pieces of the EV1 down on the crowd like confetti. But many feel the museum went too far in depicting the SUV running over a wax mannequin of Ed Begley, Jr.

An Electric Car, Booted (WaPo)

Smithsonian Kills the Electric Car (Treehugger)

(Update: for those who wondered about that polar bear remark...)

Polar Bears Turning To Cannibalism (Discovery Channel)