ND1209111

Title: Is Electric Car Interest Fizzling?

Description: The ROI on the Obama administration?s $5 billion incentives for the electric car industry may suggest that the plan was too aggressive.

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WASHINGTON, D.C. ? The Obama administration has given the electric car industry around $5 billion in incentives to encourage production and purchase of the green vehicles, but analysts are questioning whether that move will pan out, the Washington Post reports.

President Barack Obama has highlighted clean technology as part of his job creation initiatives, pouring a projected $80 billion of stimulus funds into clean energy and energy efficiency companies, programs and research. Following the debacle of Solyndra, the solar-panel manufacturer that went under, another failure of an alternative energy program could spell trouble for the president.

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Analysts are predicting that some of the electric car companies receiving federal funds could go dark early next year, especially in light of falling sales and production. For example, A123 Systems, which makes batteries and had gotten $380 million from the government, said it would be downsizing because of low orders. Also, General Motors, which makes the Volt, revealed it would miss its goal of selling 10,000 of the cars in 2011 by 38 percent.

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?Many in this industry have jumped the gun on how aggressive the growth of electric vehicles will be,? said Kevin C. See, a Lux Research analyst.

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But Menahem Andreman, an expert on auto batteries and founder of Total Battery Consulting, said the administration should have planned better for its green car investments. ?This has created a lot of publicity, but people have not bought many more cars as a result,? he said.

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However, the White House has said that the emphasis on electric vehicles is a positive one. ?That effort continues to be successful as sales of advanced technology vehicles keep increasing and these technologies continue to support growth of American auto companies, reduce oil dependence and create jobs,? said Clark Stevens, White House spokesman.

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Content Subject: Petroleum Retailing

Formatted Article Date: December 9, 2011

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