Nissan, Fed Ex ask gov for $124 billion for plug-ins
The Nissan Leaf electric vehicleA group calling itself the Electrification Coalition, led by Nissan and Federal Express, is asking for the government to spend $128 billion over 8 years to help make electricity the fuel of cars.
The EV group "is urging Congress to pass a series of tax credits and loan guarantees to help bring 14 million electric cars to the road by 2020. Their plan envisions building up the use of electric vehicles in six to eight cities in the short term with the goal of making 75 percent of all vehicle miles traveled powered by electricity by 2040."
I'd like to see the whole plan, but this seems a little presumptuous considering not one major automaker has even yet sold a plug-in vehicle. Likewise, the government is already putting up $50 billion+ just to help automakers achieve new CAFE standards. If such a plan were to move forward, wouldn't it be better to reallocate that $50 billion in CAFE funds to this plan, for instance?
More important, if the government is to foot the bill for electrification, shouldn't the plan be as comprehensive as possible, and ensure that the recently bailed out US auto industry is a central focus of the plan?
Labels: electric cars
posted by Dahcredyns at
8:15 AM
2 Comments:
Dahcredyns said: "I'd like to see the whole plan, but this seems a little presumptuous considering not one major automaker has even yet sold a plug-in vehicle.".
I laughed my head off at this statement. The first thing that came to mind was, when has the government ever done anything that made sense LOL Well it's not actually the government of course and I even find it hard to believe that Federal Express is part of the plan but they are.
Want to take any side bets on how quickly something like this gets approved? Sounds like we are going to need that "Solar Grand Plan" more quickly than I thought to supply all the power needed for these electric cars. Next they will want me to come out of retirement to manage the construction of a bunch of new power plants. Oh dear, now I have to start shaving again every day LOL
But the price quoted is really cheap. We could pay for all of it by just raising the gas tax $.25/gallon.
Tom G,
Electric cars are useful in small doses, and can be beneficial for the environment. However, they cannot, and should not, be used to replace cars on the mass scale. We need more efficient long distance transportation systems for cargo and passengers, such as electrified rail.
http://www.selfdestructivebastards.com/2009/10/electric-cars-in-small-doses.html
Post a Comment
<< Home