1 Million EV Goal Absent From State Of The Union

by Derek Kreindler

February 13th, 2013 11:30 AM

1 million ev goal absent from state of the union

Those who watched the State of the Union address last night and have an interest in autos may have noticed a conspicuous absence; Barack Obama failed to mention his goal of putting 1 million EVs on the road by 2015.

Obama last mentioned the figure in 2011, stating

At the California Institute of Technology, they’re developing a way to turn sunlight and water into fuel for our cars. At Oak Ridge National Laboratory, they’re using supercomputers to get a lot more power out of our nuclear facilities. With more research and incentives, we can break our dependence on oil with biofuels, and become the first country to have 1 million electric vehicles on the road by 2015.

Since then, the figure has been absent from the address. In 2012 did see Obama promise to “…not cede the wind or solar or battery industry to China or Germany…” Well, we all know what happened to A123 Systems.

#America #ElectricVehicle #EV #Obama #Politics #StateOfTheUnion

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Sfdennis1 on Feb 13, 2013

In other breaking news... The senior editorial team of TTAC vows to beat this dead horse of a story one million times...one million times I tell ya. Oh and yeah, and the auto bailout was a massive failure, and pursuing any form of improved electric proplusion for cars is a fools bargain/ never gonna happen, etc etc etc.

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- Jkross22 on Feb 13, 2013
  
  Touchy much?
  
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- Wmba on Feb 13, 2013
  
  "The senior editorial team of TTAC vows to beat this dead horse of a story one million times…one million times I tell ya." I agree. Who cares? I mean, really. Just takes up space. Normally I just skip these articles, but the constant dull roar means I glance at them once in a while, and nothing changes or advances in perspective. Just a merry chortle of anti-Obama anti electric car rabble-rousing. Ho hum.
  
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Xeranar on Feb 13, 2013

Will the author admit he was paid by the conservative koch-backed tea party groups I would listen to him more earnestly. Until then I'm just going to assume his journalistic integrity is overridden by his personal views. EVs are currently too expensive compared to the current traditional line ups. For the time being as long as the auto industry can meet CAFE standards with smaller motors and turbochargers they are going to. EVs are an eventuality if only because the standards aren't going down. Bitch and moan in your cynicism. Well have plenty of EVs on the roads over the next 20 years.

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- 360joules on Feb 13, 2013
  
  -I see. Much better to get your news from a George Soros approved source than a Koch brothers' approved source? -Automotive manufacturing attracts politicians of all stripes. Tariffs are enacted, "safety" regulations favoring domestic producers are created, chickens are taxed... It's not politically biased to note that after billions in EV subsidies and mentions in previous State of the Union addresses, EVs were absent.
  
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- Xeranar on Feb 14, 2013
  
  @360joules Nice you mentioned George Soros as if he is the equivalent of the Koch bros. investment. I would point out Soros has funded very little over the last few years and the sources I follow tend to be peer reviewed. But don't let your false dichotomy get in the way of your personal views. So quickly....Tariffs are a form of protectionism that is merely a tool. You don't profit from them being high or low. Ideology aside they can be useful if done right. Safety regulations like crumple zones, seat belts, and airbags save millions of lives. It is a state of the union address and is largely a popular agenda message. EVs are on the radar and are in the process of a slow roll out. Tesla is a serious player. Toyota & BMW just entered an alliance. EVs are coming. Nothing is changing that. Just because you're a cynic and/or conservative doesn't make it any less true.
  
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Oldyak on Feb 13, 2013

Im still trying to figure out the 54 mpg goal? 54 mpg???? how the hell can any manufacturer do this? And this is supposed to be the 'manufacturer average'... This is so 'pie in the sky' I cant even begin to believe its real. Actually the idea of illegal immigrants pulling rickshaws is more realistic.

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- Protomech on Feb 14, 2013
  
  A car that returns 54 MPG CAFE will return roughly 40 MPG EPA. It's stupid, but they're different metrics.
  
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- Lorenzo on Feb 14, 2013
  
  @protomech That's government math for you. It has more fudge than Sara Lee, but it leaves a sour taste in your mouth.
  
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Roadscholar on Feb 14, 2013

Those two guys behind him look so serious. Probably haven't driven a Challenger SRT8 lately.

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