McCain: Electric car 'vital' to oil independence - TACH Agrees!

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WARREN, Mich. July 21, 2008; The AP reported that Washington allies haven't always been easy to come by for U.S. automakers, but Republican presidential candidate John McCain told General Motors Corp. employees last Friday July 18 that reviving the struggling industry would be of utmost importance in his administration. "The key, integral, vital part of our ability to eliminate our dependence on foreign oil will be directly related to that sign over there," McCain told an invitation-only town hall meeting at the GM Technical Center in Warren, pointing to a sign for GM's first plug-in electric car, the Chevrolet Volt.

"I wish you every success, and I want to help in every way," he said.

Organizers added seats and risers to accommodate at least 500 people in GM's Design Dome. The Macomb County technical center north of Detroit employs nearly 17,000 people and is where GM is designing the Volt.

Before the town-hall meeting, the Arizona senator toured the facility with GM Chief Executive Rick Wagoner and other company executives. McCain examined and got into a model of a Chevrolet Volt, a plug-in hybrid-electric car GM says it plans to have on the market by 2010.

Wagoner told McCain members of the Volt development team "are pushing the time envelope," an apparent reference to the deadline to get the Volt to showrooms within two years.

The GM officials also showed McCain a cutaway mock-up of the Volt's power system and innovative battery that would let it drive about 40 miles without using any gasoline.

"If this doesn't work perfectly, we can do everything else perfectly and it's not going to work," Wagoner told McCain.

McCain said he disagrees with GM officials on one front: creating a federal standard for automobile emissions. While he said he's a federalist, he said states should make decisions that affect states.

"I understand the labyrinth (automakers) have to navigate through," he said. "I'm not without sympathy."

Congress last year required the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to set fuel economy standards at levels that reach a minimum of 35 miles per gallon by 2020, a 40% increase over current standards. NHTSA has proposed raising the requirements to 31.6 mpg by 2015.

California unsuccessfully has sought a waiver from the federal government to allow it to set the nation's first greenhouse gas limits on cars, trucks and sport-utility vehicles.

The Environmental Protection Agency in December blocked efforts by California and about 16 other states to impose tough regulations on emissions. California officials have said their program would cut emissions by one-third in new vehicles by 2016 and increase fuel efficiency to about 36.8 mpg.

EPA officials said the energy bill signed by President Bush would boost fuel economy standards while providing a national approach for reducing emissions.

Automakers agree with the Bush administration and say a national approach would allow the industry to aim for one standard. Wagoner told reporters after the town-hall meeting that current fuel economy standards are challenging enough, and the automaker wants to focus on them.

McCain's GM visit comes the same week the company announced a combination of cuts, borrowing and asset sales that would raise $15 billion to weather the recent slump in U.S. auto sales and the rapid shift from trucks to cars.

Faced with high gas prices and a weak economy, GM's sales fell 16% for the first half of the year, with trucks off 21% and cars down nearly 9%. GM has lost billions of dollars during the last three years.

McCain repeated comments he made last week in Michigan that U.S. auto workers have the ingenuity and skills to move to new types of vehicles as sales of profitable but gas-guzzling sport-utility vehicles plunge and predicted the Volt "will create thousands and thousands of new jobs for Michigan."

Wagoner said he hopes GM's recent turnaround efforts show McCain and his rival, Democratic candidate Barack Obama, that the company is capable and committed to fixing itself — and all it seeks is their support and understanding.

"We're not looking for people to bail us out," he said.

Kathy Doher, a 36-year employee of GM, said she replied to a company invitation to attend the event because of her interest in such issues as the economy and the state of the auto industry. While undecided, she also was interested in attending a meeting with a presidential candidate.

With retirement in sight, it's not about her personal job security, but she said, "I'm obviously concerned about just turning the company around in North America."

"We really do have some great products out there that can compete with the best," said Doher, an assistant to the vice president of North American engineering.

Obama released a letter Friday to the United Auto Workers outlining his policies for the industry following GM's restructuring announcement this week. Obama's proposals include low-interest loans to help automakers retool their plants to build advanced vehicles and a 10-year, $150 billion program for green manufacturing.

Democrats have said the Bush administration has neglected the auto industry and questioned McCain's automotive agenda, which include retraining auto workers, tax incentives and a $300 million prize to develop advanced batteries used in plug-in hybrids.