Buried in a report on the plug-in hybrid electric hybrid (PHEV) spinstorm about to descend on the Washington, D.C. auto show, USA Today reports that the U.S. Energy Department will fork-out up to $30m for PHEV projects. Apparently, the money is headed for boffins bent on building cars that "deliver up to 40 miles of electric range without recharging." Companies dedicated to created plug-ins that are "cost-competitive by 2014 and ready for commercialization by 2016." So who gets the dough? GM, Toyota, small start-ups? USA Today ain't sayin'. But they do have a killer quote from Ford's chief engineer for plug-in and fuel-cell vehicles. "If we can't decide within five years whether we can do this, something is wrong," Greg Frenette pronounced. Question: when did/does that five-year time frame start?
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Thirty million? That’s chump change. I find the billions being flushed down the toilet every month in Iraq to be a tad more worrisome than a paltry thirty million for PHEV research. I wish it were thirty billion.
BuckD :
Thirty million? That’s chump change.
Thirty million here, thirty million there, and soon you’re talking about real money.
Besides, where’s MY thirty million?
I’ve got a bad feeling that programs like this, along with “retooling incentives”, somehow end up supporting “retention bonuses”.
John
I’m with you, John… where’s the oversight going to happen when they distribute the money?
It’s just numbers, when you run low, just add a few more zeroes to the equation.
As long as everyone feels good let’s spend more money to get reelected.
Y’know, there were electric cars capable of 50-mile range back around the turn of the last century — they were popular with people who felt internal combustion was too noisy and uncouth. Granted, they were slower than would be acceptable for any modern car, even an urban runabout, but come on. Let’s set the bar a little higher…