Senate bill would give electric cars a $10 billion boost

Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.), Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) introduced a bill Thursday that would invest $10 billion to accelerate the adoption of electric cars. The goal of the bill is to deploy 700,000 electric vehicles in the near-term.

The Electric Drive Vehicle Deployment Act of 2010 directs the Department of Energy to create between five and fifteen “deployment communities” across the country that would receive grants of up to $250 million to develop infrastructure and incentivize the adoption of electric vehicles. The bill is expected to cost between $7 billion and $10 billion dollars over five years.

Communities would use the funds to make upgrades, build power stations, train workers and promote electric cars. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu would choose the geographic communities based on criteria including their willingness to share costs and the active participation of local governments, businesses and utility companies.

“Republicans and Democrats agree that electrifying our cars and trucks is the single best way to reduce our dependence on oil,” Alexander said. “Our goal should be to electrify half our cars and trucks within 20 years, which would reduce our dependence on petroleum products by about a third, from about 20 million to about 13 million barrels a day."

Residents of deployment communities would be eligible for point-of-sale rebates of up to $10,000 when purchasing an electric vehicle. The bill also extends the nationwide tax credit — currently capped at $7,500 — and expands it to include medium- and heavy-duty hybrid vehicles. 

Additionally, the bill provides $1.5 billion to research lowering battery costs and extends the 50 percent tax credit for communities that buld charging stations. A Senate aide said communities often require significant upgrades to their power grids to meet the increased demand of electric vehicles. That generally includes increasing the number of transformers and power lines locally.

Reps. Edward Markey (D-Mass.), Judy Biggert (R-Ill.), Jerry McNerney (D-Calif.) and Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.) introduced a similar bill in the House on Thursday, though the aide said the House bill is slightly more expensive at $11 billion and includes different funding for research and a separate set of incentives.

David Friedman, research director of the Union of Concerned Scientists' Clean Vehicles program, said the House bill "moves electric drive technologies into the fast lane."