Oregon Public Broadcasting

Gas prices have fallen by more than half since last summer.  But that’s done nothing to cool the ardor of electric and plug-in car enthusiasts. 

Electric car companies are finding a friendly reception as they push West Coast states and cities for incentives and infrastructure investments.  Some skeptics say subsidies and incentives are unnecessary. 

Correspondent Tom Banse has more on what’s coming down the pike. 

We’re not talking about souped-up golf carts here.  Most of the world’s major automakers have plans to sell fully electric cars that look and feel like regular cars. 

Just the topic and a few tantalizing pictures draw a capacity crowd to what otherwise would be a mundane legislative briefing.

Sound [committee chairwoman]: “Welcome to the Dec. 4th Transportation Committee meeting.  Glad to see all the excitement....”

This group of Washington State legislators stayed excited even after an electric car company presented a laundry list of tax break, incentive, and spending requests.

Jeff Miller: “We must begin switching our transportation system from ‘Car 1.0’ model -- which is based on the internal combustion engine -- to what we call ‘Car 2.0.’  That is clean electric cars powered by renewable energy.”

Jeff Miller works for a company called Better Place.  The Silicon Valley start up has grand plans to create car recharging networks. 

Miller tells policy makers that they have to start working on the support infrastructure now.  He expects the zero emissions cars to go on sale in large numbers around 2012.

Jeff Miller: “We are going to build a ubiquitous infrastructure that is in place before the vehicles come online so that consumers can have the confidence to go out and purchase them from day 1.”

In Oregon, Governor Ted Kulongoski recently inked a three-way deal with carmaker Nissan and Portland General Electric.  He says Nissan will debut its electric car in Oregon if the state and the utility build a network of recharging points. 

Ted Kulongoski: “If you’ve seen the ones that they put in Portland, it’s just basically a box that they run the electrical current into.  I don’t think that they’re that expensive.”

Kulongoski also wants to offer a five thousand dollar personal income tax credit to Oregonians who buy plug-in cars.  This would replace an existing tax incentive for buyers of hybrids like the Toyota Prius.

Washington State lawmakers are getting in the act too.  Draft legislation would expedite permitting for car recharging networks.  The package may also extend a sales tax exemption for buyers of new electric cars.

An energy policy analyst at a free market think tank in Portland calls many of these incentives unwarranted and unnecessary.  The Cascade Policy Institute’s Todd Wynn objects to – in his words – “bribing” people to buy an electric car.

Todd Wynn: “These people are already saving money, even if they paid for the charging services, they bought the electric cars, they’re still saving money because they’re not paying gasoline. To subsidize people who are already saving money doesn’t make any sense.”

There’s another road block in the way of incentives or investments for electric cars.  Governments at all levels are facing yawning budget deficits.  State senator-elect Fred Jarrett of Mercer Island, Washington says new tax incentives he’s pondering may not take effect until 2011 or 2012. 

Fred Jarrett: “Anything that we would propose that is spending or a tax reduction in this environment just is not sensible.  But that doesn’t mean we can’t look to the future.  We are going to come out of the recession.  We are going to have a growing economy.  We want to make sure that as it grows, that it grows as a cleaner economy and a better economy.”

An electric vehicle association from Seattle is shopping around some incentives that don’t cost money.  One is to allow electric powered cars to drive in carpool lanes even if there’s just one person aboard.

Online:

Better Place LLC (Palo Alto, CA)

Washington State “Green Vehicle” Sales Tax Exemption (.pdf)

Cascade Policy Institute

Governor Ted Kulongoski press release