Michael Giberson
President Obama’s budget request will call on Congress to pass legislation offering consumers a rebate of as much as $7,500 for purchasing electric vehicles.
The rebate plan is part of a three-part proposal outlined by the Department of Energy Tuesday that will be included in Obama’s budget request, slated to be released Monday. The proposal is designed to reach Obama’s goal of putting 1 million electric vehicles on the road by 2015.
The electric vehicles rebate proposal is modeled after the successful “cash-for-clunkers” program, which gave consumers rebates for exchanging older vehicles for more fuel-efficient ones.
From The Hill‘s E2 Wire blog.
Four reactions:
1. Which “cash-for-clunkers” program was the successful one? They can’t be talking about this one, can they?
2. Does “electric vehicles” include electric motorcycles and electric bikes, too? How about a golf cart so I can tool around the neighborhood like some of my neighbors do? And if electric vehicles can get a subsidy, why not non-electric bike purchasers?
3. Is this a plan to do something about local air pollution problems, so the rebates targeted to areas with local air pollution problems? Or are we going to squander taxpayer money wherever consumers want to put their electric vehicles, whether there are any local air pollution problems or not?
4. Also, I want a pony.