Congress yet to OK electric auto agenda

Washington — President Barack Obama laid out an ambitious agenda in his 2011 State of the Union address to boost electric vehicles.

"With more research and incentives, we can break our dependence on oil with biofuels, and become the first country to have a million electric vehicles on the road by 2015," Obama said last January, proposing to fund some of those through ending oil tax breaks. "We've begun to reinvent our energy policy. We're not just handing out money. We're issuing a challenge."

That same month, the White House also called for converting the $7,500 federal tax deduction for electric vehicles into a rebate that consumers could get when they buy an electric vehicle — usually at a dealership.

The president proposed boosting federal subsidies for vehicle technologies almost 90 percent to nearly $590 million. The effort included $200 million to help as many as 30 cities develop the infrastructure for widespread use of electric vehicles.

The White House said the approach was modeled on bipartisan bills introduced in 2010.

But Congress didn't approve any of the policy changes sought by Obama on electric vehicles.

The White House said Obama plans to talk today about a new era for American energy — an "economy fueled by homegrown and alternative energy sources that will be designed and produced by American workers."

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney acknowledged that not all of Obama's proposals in his 2011 address were approved.

"There are absolutely things that remain undone that need to be done that he will call on all of us to work together to get done in this address and beyond," he said.

And green efforts have come under attack. Last month, Rep. Mike Kelly, R-Pa., a Chevy and Hyundai dealer, proposed eliminating the $7,500 tax credit.

"The bottom line is, while our nation borrows 42 cents on every dollar, taxpayers are paying for an electric vehicle tax credit that has cost tens of millions of dollars, and that largely benefits upper-income Americans," Kelly said.

Republicans in September tried to cut 20 percent of the funding for the $25 billion Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing loan program, but Democrats blocked the cuts.

About $1 billion in loans have been given to Tesla Motors and Fisker Automotive to build EVs in former GM factories in California and Delaware. Ford Motor Co. and Nissan Motor Co. have also won loans of $5.9 billion and $1.4 billion, respectively.

But the Energy Department last awarded an auto sector loan — to Vehicle Production Group — in November 2010. It was finalized in March 2011.

dshepardson@detnews.com

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