Early reports of the electric car’s demise have, apparently, not reached the current administration.
Just as GM temporarily halts production of the plug-in hybrid Volt due to slow sales, President Obama announces a 4.7 billion dollar effort for advanced technology vehicles. Part of that money will be invested in technology for electric cars which the White House describes as, an “EV Everywhere Challenge". The initiative will invest in cutting edge R & D for advanced batteries and much anticipated fast charging technology.
The President also announced more incentives to help consumers and businesses purchase cleaner cars and trucks, including increasing the current tax credit for advanced vehicles, from the $7,500 credit that currently exists up to $10,000, while allowing the credit to be applied to additional types of technologies, like plug in hybrids and compressed natural gas vehicles. President Obama also proposed transferring the credit to the dealer so the buyer could benefit right away.
One billion dollars of Obama’s alternative vehicle announcement will go to a “National Community Deployment Challenge” to help 10-15 communities “invest in the infrastructure, remove the regulatory barriers, and create the local incentives to support deployment of advanced vehicles at critical mass.” The new $1-billion National Community Deployment Challenge will not just be tied to electric cars. Communities can decide on what technology they want to pursue.
The president spoke at Daimler Trucks Plant in North Carolina, a swing state in the 2012 general election. Although this is all welcome news for clean car enthusiasts, the president is no longer mentioning his goal of getting a million electric vehicles on the roads by 2015.