Washington — President Barack Obama proposed a big boost in vehicle research funding in his 2014 budget proposal that he delivered to Congress on Wednesday. He also called for more money for high-speed rail, cellulosic ethanol and boosting manufacturing.
Obama wants to hike the Energy Department's vehicle research budget 75 percent to $575 million and create a $2 billion trust fund to fund research into getting the country off foreign oil over the next 10 years.
"We'll continue our march toward energy independence," Obama said.
A key part of the budget is a proposal to help jump-start lagging electric vehicle sales.
Obama is again calling to hike the tax credit for electric vehicles to $10,000. It would allow the dealer to claim the credit as long as it was disclosed to the consumer, as a way of allowing owners to get the credit as a point-of-sale rebate rather than when they filed a tax return the following year.
Republican support for electric vehicles has soured and the GOP-led House hasn't approved any of Obama's proposals to hike electric vehicle tax credits or boost funding for vehicle research. They oppose diverting oil revenue to pay for more research.
As a candidate, Obama called in 2008 for 1 million plug-in electric vehicles on the roads by 2015. But in recent years, Obama has stopped talking about his goal as sales have lagged far behind estimates. Analysts think it is almost impossible, in part because only about 50,000 plug-in vehicles have been sold in the United States since 2011, and all major automakers have scaled back forecasts of EV production.
Obama has shifted his efforts on electric vehicles and embraces subsidies for a broader range of advanced vehicles. He wants to expand a tax credit for fuel-cell powered medium- and heavy-duty trucks of up to $40,000 to include other alternative-fuel technologies.
The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, the trade group representing Detroit's Big Three automakers, Toyota Motor Corp., Volkswagen AG and others, praised the vehicle push.
"We generally support incentives that can help move our models from dealer lots to people's driveways," she said, "but we defer to policymakers in setting the precise dollar amount needed to increase sales."
The budget includes accelerated research and development on emerging battery technologies and manufacturing processes to enable production of lower-cost electric vehicles with improved range and faster-charging capability.
It also would fund another proposal that's been approved by Congress — to support a small number of advanced vehicle deployment communities, which will be selected through a competition, and would combine government resources to test real-world approaches to accelerating deployment of advanced vehicles.
The budget also calls for spending $282 million to develop cellulosic ethanol and other advanced biofuels, such as those derived from algae.
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(202) 662-8735
Obama wants to hike the Energy Department's vehicle research budget 75 percent to $575 million and create a $2 billion trust fund to fund research into getting the country off foreign oil over the next 10 years.
"We'll continue our march toward energy independence," Obama said.
A key part of the budget is a proposal to help jump-start lagging electric vehicle sales.
Obama is again calling to hike the tax credit for electric vehicles to $10,000. It would allow the dealer to claim the credit as long as it was disclosed to the consumer, as a way of allowing owners to get the credit as a point-of-sale rebate rather than when they filed a tax return the following year.
Republican support for electric vehicles has soured and the GOP-led House hasn't approved any of Obama's proposals to hike electric vehicle tax credits or boost funding for vehicle research. They oppose diverting oil revenue to pay for more research.
As a candidate, Obama called in 2008 for 1 million plug-in electric vehicles on the roads by 2015. But in recent years, Obama has stopped talking about his goal as sales have lagged far behind estimates. Analysts think it is almost impossible, in part because only about 50,000 plug-in vehicles have been sold in the United States since 2011, and all major automakers have scaled back forecasts of EV production.
Obama has shifted his efforts on electric vehicles and embraces subsidies for a broader range of advanced vehicles. He wants to expand a tax credit for fuel-cell powered medium- and heavy-duty trucks of up to $40,000 to include other alternative-fuel technologies.
The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, the trade group representing Detroit's Big Three automakers, Toyota Motor Corp., Volkswagen AG and others, praised the vehicle push.
"We generally support incentives that can help move our models from dealer lots to people's driveways," she said, "but we defer to policymakers in setting the precise dollar amount needed to increase sales."
The budget includes accelerated research and development on emerging battery technologies and manufacturing processes to enable production of lower-cost electric vehicles with improved range and faster-charging capability.
It also would fund another proposal that's been approved by Congress — to support a small number of advanced vehicle deployment communities, which will be selected through a competition, and would combine government resources to test real-world approaches to accelerating deployment of advanced vehicles.
The budget also calls for spending $282 million to develop cellulosic ethanol and other advanced biofuels, such as those derived from algae.
[email protected]
(202) 662-8735