Senate energy plan bolsters electric cars

The Senate energy bill unveiled Tuesday contains several provisions to bolster the fledgling market for electric cars that Nissan Motor Co., General Motors Corp. and several other companies are developing.

The electric car plan is based on bipartisan legislation sponsored by Sens. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.), Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.). The broader bill — which also contains oil-spill response measures — is slated for debate on the Senate floor ahead of the August recess.

Inclusion of the vehicle provisions follows a campaign by electric car advocates, who call the technology a promising way to curb oil imports by allowing drivers to charge up rather than fill up at the gas station.

But turning the vehicles into something other than a niche market would require development of charging infrastructure and several other steps.

The bill includes new Energy Department planning, assistance to local governments, grants and R&D.

A centerpiece is the Electric Drive Vehicle Deployment Communities Program, in which selected areas would become hot spots for the technology through cooperation among electric utilities, government agencies, automakers and others.

The bill authorizes $400 million for the effort.

The bill drew cheers from the Electrification Coalition, a group that formed in 2009 to promote the technology.

“The electrification of our cars and trucks remains the best way to fundamentally deal with the dangers posed by oil dependence. If the United States electrified half of its cars and light trucks, we could reduce petroleum consumption by almost 5 million barrels a day — roughly equivalent to the entire amount we import from OPEC nations today,” said Robbie Diamond, the group’s president.

The coalition includes Nissan — which is rolling out a plug-in car called the Leaf — as well as NRG Energy Inc., PG&E Corp., lithium ion battery company A123Systems Inc., FedEx Corp. and GridPoint Inc., which provides software to enable a “smart” power grid.