Plug-In Electric Vehicles

Last year, oil provided more than 96 percent of the energy in our cars and trucks. This overwhelming dependence empowers our enemies, imperils the planet, and strains family budgets whenever world oil prices rise. What can be done? The single most important answer may be promoting the widespread use of plug-in electric vehicles. Thisimportant book examines the role that the U.S. government can and should playin that mission. Most major automakers have announced plans to market plug-in electric vehicles, which can generally be recharged with a simple extension cord. What isthe national interest in putting millions of these cars and trucks on the road soon? What should the federal government do to help make that happen? Can federal tax or procurement policy play a role? Can federal research and development help? Atwhat point would subsidies for plug-in electric vehicles begin to match subsidies for oil? Answers to these questions and more emerge in this timely, innovative, and provocative volume.The editor of Plug-in Electric Vehicles is David B. Sandalow, an experienced expert in energy policy. His contributors include former government officials (e.g., former CIA Director James Woolsey), respected private sector analysts, NGO activists, andacademic experts. Together they explain the current landscape for plug-in electrics and implications for national security, the environment, and the economy. They discuss what can and should be done to advance the role of plug-in electric vehicles.“By far the most promising path to the trifecta of cleaner, cheaper, domestic fuel is through electrification of transportation. As modern battery technology has developed in response to the markets for electronics, communications, power tools, and a host of other uses, it has brought with it opportunities to substitute electricity for oilproducts in transportation.”—Chapter 1, R. James Woolsey and Chelsea SextonContentsBENEFITS1. The Geopolitics of Plug-Ins2. Electrification and Oil Displacement3. Pluggable Cars: A Key Component of a Low-CarbonTransportation Future4. The Cash Back CarBARRIERS5. Impact of Plug-In Hybrids on U.S. Oil Use andGreenhouse Gas Emissions6. Look Before You LeapPOLICIES7. Current Federal Programs on Electric Vehicles8. Tax Credits for Electric Cars9. Federal Research and Development10. Federal Policy Options to Support Electric VehicleDeployment11. Electric Vehicles: How Do We Get Millions on the Road?12. Electric Utility Issues in Replacing Oil with Electricity13. Advancing PHEVs via Utility Industry Battery Acquisitionand Leasing