The US target of putting one million electric cars on the road by 2015 may not be attainable according to a new study from Indiana University.
Current production intentions of the car makers is insufficient to meet the 2015 goal, and unless they are scaled up, will fail to help the country meet its ambitious target. However according to the ‘Plug-in Electric Vehicles: A Practical Plan for Progress The Report of an Expert Panel’, consumer demand remains uncertain and will likely be too low to warrant an increase in production.
The year long study by the expert panel at the university’s School of Public and Environmental Affairs suggests that instead the government should focus on more technology neutral policies to encourage develop across all ‘clean energy’ vehicle markets and allow the marketplace to determine which technologies are superior.
To encourage customer uptake of electric vehicles there should be a federally supported, national EV demonstration programme to help overcome the information barriers faced by the industry today. Further research, additional cost-effective incentives to encourage EV consumers and further investment into infrastructure technology, particularly in recharging capability at the homes of potential electric vehicle buyers is also recommended to help boost EV demand.
"President Obama’s dream is appealing and it may be achievable, but there are big barriers to overcome before the mass commercialization of electric vehicles will occur," said John D. Graham, dean of the School of Public and Environmental Affairs at IU.
The chairman of the IU panel, former Ford Motor Co. executive Gurminder Bedi, stressed that "a successful national program for electric vehicles will require an unusual degree of cooperation between industry and government, and a clear focus on the needs and concerns of consumers."
The 13-member panel’s work also stressed concern about the uncertainty of reliability and resale value of EVs, coupled with a general lack of consumer understanding which will dampen the EV market. The panel’s year long evaluation is the work of experts from government, the auto industry and environmental groups, including representatives from Ford Motor Co., the Center for Automotive Research, the International Council on Clean Transportation and others. The full report is available online at http://www.indiana.edu/~spea/pubs/TEP_combined.pdf.
