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Push for tax credits

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Federal tax credits urged to help change U.S. fleet cars, trucks to electric

By TODD SPANGLER
FREE PRESS WASHINGTON STAFF

WASHINGTON -- A group that wants to see electric vehicles instituted on a mass scale issued a report Monday saying Congress should provide tax credits and renewable energy bonds to repopulate the 16million fleet cars and trucks in the U.S. with electric vehicles and spur the infrastructure needed to power them.

Members of the Electrification Coalition said at a news conference that modernizing America's fleet vehicles with electric cars and trucks should be something Republicans and Democrats alike can agree on because it could reduce reliance on foreign oil.

"Electrification is the best path forward," said Robbie Diamond, president and CEO of the group, which is made up of top executives from companies across the supply and use chain for electric vehicles, including battery makers, power companies, auto suppliers and end users, like FedEx.

At the news conference, participants noted Michigan's central position in the emerging U.S. advanced-battery industry, with 17 facilities dedicated to producing efficient batteries that would power electric cars and trucks.

David Vieau, president and CEO of battery-maker A123 Systems -- which, in September, opened North America's largest lithium-ion auto battery plant, in Livonia -- said the billions of dollars invested in research and production have already started to bring the price of electric vehicles down, but modernizing fleet vehicles and making sure there is a plug-in infrastructure to serve them will do even more to maximize efficiencies of scale.

In its "Fleet Electrification Roadmap," the group makes the case that identifying and solving issues arising from modernizing fleets with electric vehicles will have spillover effects for the rest of the population. And there are strong indications that fleet buyers are already looking to make a move: Last week, GE announced that it would purchase 25,000 electric vehicles by 2015, including 12,000 GM vehicles -- beginning with the Chevy