Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Legislation and Policy, USA



"You want me on that wall," sneered Jack Nicholson's Colonel Jessup in A Few Good Men, "You need me on that wall." Well, we might need him a bit less if the government invests more in plug-in vehicle technology and infrastructure, according to the Electric Drive Transportation Association (EDTA).

The EDTA says promoting plug-in vehicle sales is a matter of national security and cites foreign-oil purchasing statistics as proof. Specifically, the US increased oil imports by about seven percent last year, to $451 billion. By pushing harder for plug-in vehicle adoption - by way of helping to fund technology improvements and electric vehicle charging installations - the government may be able to stem that growth and even cut oil import numbers as fleetwide fuel economy rises and gasoline purchases drop. Currently, the plans from various automakers say that about two-dozen plug-in models will be introduced during the next three years. The number of plug-in charging stations in the US should surge to about 1.5 million in 2017, way up from about 5,000 now.

You can check out EDTA's eight-page report here.EDTA: EVs increase US national security by reducing need for oil originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Wed, 13 Mar 2013 09:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.



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It would be great if we could just pull into a stall in a "gas" station and have the old spent battery automatically ejected out the bottom and a freshly recharged one inserted and sign the credit card receit... then pull out fully charged and ready to go. An instant solution.

I am not sure why they are pushing charging stations so hard and once again wasting our tax money because charging stations are often grossly impractical. Imagine for example driving from Kansas City to LA in an electric car as your battery goes low every few hours and instead of an instant remedy, have to wait for a recharge at a station. I remember when malls around here had charging stations and all the time I ever saw one it sat empty. Now the stations are all removed and those with handicapped stickers park there.

The problem is most of the electric grid is powered by coal (and electric cars by proxy) and it's ironic the article posts a photo of Obama while his EPA is effectively limiting and reducing coal production through regulation. The article also cites the benefit of national security for reducing dependency on foreign oil while the US has more accessible oil within its boundary than Soudi, Kuwait and Iraq combined in the form of Shale.