Obama Pledges $2.4 Billion to Fund Next Generation Electric Vehicles Production

Chevrolet Volt. Photo by Xinhua News.

POMONA, Calif.- President Barack Obama has announced that his administration plans to make available $2.4 billion in funding to American manufacturers for the development of next generation plug-in hybrid vehicles and the advanced battery components that will make these vehicle run.

The announcement was made late last week to an audience at the Edison Electric Vehicle Technical Center, where he pledged that “the initiative will create tens of thousands of jobs, and Americans who decide to purchase these plug-in hybrid vehicles can claim a tax credit of up to $7,500.”

President Obama went on to say that the Department of Energy is offering several grant programs in an effort to bring these initiatives to fruition.

The DOE grant programs announced at the event will provide up to:

• $1.5 billion in grants to U.S.-based manufacturers to produce the necessary batteries and their components.
• $500 million in grants to U.S.-based manufacturers to produce other components needed for electric vehicles, such as electric motors.
• $400 million to demonstrate and evaluate plug-in hybrids and other electric infrastructure concepts, such as truck stop charging stations, electric rails, and training for technicians to build and repair electric vehicles.

These projects will be funded with financing appropriated by the President’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The president said that “DOE’s approach includes jointly funding partnerships with industry to develop technologies that will support the Recovery Act’s goals and accelerate the adoption of successful technologies in high volume production vehicles.”

More information on the Recovery Act and projects funded by it are available at Recovery.gov.