GM Wants an Organized Effort on Electric Cars : Autos: Big 3 member says government must make commitment to buy many of the vehicles.
General Motors Corp. for the first time Monday proposed a coordinated plan to get ready for the sale of electric cars, as required by California’s 1998 deadline.
A GM executive speaking at the 12th International Electric Vehicle Symposium in Anaheim laid out a six-point agenda of conditions the auto maker considers necessary for a successful commercial introduction of electric vehicles.
The conditions range from a broad-scale battery-leasing program to a commitment by governments at all levels to buy thousands of electric cars, trucks and vans.
“The time for debate is over,” GM Vice President Kenneth R. Baker said. “Those who are serious about commercializing electrics must set the agenda for action and begin to act today--and not wait for others.”
A GM spokesman later made it clear that GM remains opposed to the 1998 deadline set by California, under which 2% of the vehicles sold in the state that year by the seven biggest sellers of vehicles must be emission-free.
Still, though the proposal pulls together a grab bag of ideas already under discussion, electric car proponents--often at odds with the world’s biggest auto maker--saw the proposal as a softening of GM’s opposition to the California mandate.
“I applaud an auto maker stepping forward and saying, ‘We have a rational plan,’ ” said Diane Wittenberg, vice president of the electric transportation division of Southern California Edison Co. “It’s a lot better than hand wringing.”
Though parties to the debate have long discussed the kinds of steps that must be taken to create and support a market for electric vehicles, the auto makers have largely spoken of the limitations of the technology.
On Monday, GM sounded “more optimistic than usual,” said Cecile M. Martin, deputy executive director of the utility-supported California Electric Transportation Coalition.
GM’s conditions:
* The creation of a large demonstration program, in which the federal and state governments, some cities and electric utilities would buy cars for resale to ordinary drivers.
* Outright government fleet purchase of thousands of electric vehicles--in GM’s case perhaps half its roughly 5,000-vehicle obligation under the 1998 mandate.
* State and federal incentives of approximately $10,000 per vehicle to encourage sale of cars directly from manufacturers. A federal tax credit now returns up to $4,000 to electric car buyers.
* Utilities’ establishment of recharging structures and other support.
* State government programs to lease advanced batteries to car buyers.
* Installation by state and local governments of fast-charging public facilities, equivalent to gasoline service stations, for drivers who run low on juice before they make it home.
