US to subsidize electronic vehicles

[rooth]

The Daily Kos has an article on Electronic Vehicle Subsidies, which comes complete with a remarkably comprehensive and concise list of EVs available and soon-to-be available, along with handy links to sites where you can provide feedback or nudge carmakers

Comments

[rooth]

The Tesla is incredible looking, and incredibly FAST. No longer will sports cars enthusiasts be able to pooh-pooh green technology for being lacking in the performance department. ;)

[rooth]

I doubt it'll pass into law any time soon, but the fact that actions like this have growing support is a good sign. Though the subsidies are designed to fuel the market, which will help accelerate battery technology, that technology is sorely lagging -- barring a breakthrough, batteries won't be all that much better in 10 years, and from what I hear, no one is on the verge of a breakthrough. :(

There has been a relatively aggressive push for hybrids already -- by some miracle, since the early stages of the Bush presidency, there have been substantial tax incentives for purchases of new hybrid vehicles (was a tax deduction, is now a tax credit). Additionally, many states have their own incentives. Colorado, for instance, gave me $3,400 in tax credit (that's cash in my pocket, not a reduction in taxable income) for the purchase of my 2002 Honda Insight in December 2001 (even though I leased it at first, they gave credit based on the prorated value of the car, and since I bought the lease out, I ended up with full credit anyway

[bfdragon]

I look at those electric cars and really have to wonder, how many two car families need one car that has more then a 100 mile range? I'm not saying there aren't any, but are there really city dwellers making 50 mile trips often enough they can't just take their SOs car every now and again?

One nice thing I've heard: batteries have already dropped in price a good amount as Hybrids have become more popular, so thats a good sign for electric cars.