Currently, electric cars, including the Volt and the Leaf, are supported by federal tax credits of up to $7,500. The Department of Education has also awarded about $8.3 billion out of a $25-billion loan program to Ford, Nissan, Fisker and Tesla for further research into electric vehicles and their batteries — which currently are the most expensive part of an EV. Michigan received an additional $1.36 billion in grants in 2009 for firms with advanced battery manufacturing plants in the state.
But even with increased investment, critics are skeptical if we will actually reach Obama’s 2015 goal. According to a forecast by J.D. Power and Associates we will be about 700,000 cars short of Obama’s 1 million goal.
WHY THIS MATTERS
Even if we don’t make it to Obama’s 1 million car target, getting close to that number will help us a long way towards reducing our dependence on foreign oil and creating more manufacturing jobs in an already battered auto industry.
Via Detroit News
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