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Senate considers $10B bill to spur EV sales

Senate considers $10B bill to spur EV sales

A new bill has been introduced in the Senate that would provide up to $10 billion to aid in early electric vehicle adoption.

Sparked by concerns over the BP Gulf oil spill, lawmakers have penned a new bill that would give up to $10 billion to spur sales of electric vehicles. Introduced by Senators Byron Dorgan and Jeff Alan Merkley, the bill already has the support of the Obama administration.

Dubbed the Electric Vehicle Deployment Act of 2010, the bill would setup between 5 and 15 "deployment communities" across the United States. The selected areas would receive incentives and funding to "help demonstrate rapid market penetration and determine what best practices would be helpful for nationwide deployment of electric vehicles."

The bill calls for funding up to $10 billion, although a single "deployment community" could receive up to $250 million. The funding will go towards establishing an electric vehicle infrastructure, including public charging stations.

Despite the support of the White House, the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers opposes the Senate bill. The AAM says the bill is too narrowly focused in only supporting electric vehicle technology.

"We are opposing it because we are concerned that it is narrow in scope in the number of communities that it targets," alliance spokesman Charles Territo said. "We believe if the technology is going to survive, it needs to be available in every market."


A similar bill is currently in front of the House.

References
1. 'White House...' view