---

Automakers Commend Davis For Signing Electric Car Subsidy Legislation

4 October 2000

Automakers Commend Davis For Signing Electric Car Subsidy Legislation

    WASHINGTON, Oct. 3 The Alliance of Automobile
Manufacturers today commended Gov. Gray Davis (D-Calif.) for signing AB 2061,
which includes $18 million in grant subsidies for electric cars purchased
under the state's Zero-Emission Vehicle (ZEV) mandate.
    The bill, which would provide up to a $9,000 tax credit per electric
vehicle, would help to offset the tremendously high cost of electric vehicles
that stems from expensive battery prices. A California Air Resources Board
(CARB) mandate requires that, beginning in 2003, at least 10 percent of the
nearly 1 million cars sold in California each year be ZEVs.
    "This bill is an important first step in recognizing that the California
state government is going to have to subsidize this mandate to make it work,"
said Alliance President & CEO Josephine S. Cooper. "Because of the tremendous
extra cost of electric vehicles, large numbers of consumers are not going to
buy them without incentives."
    "But even with this incentive, this bill does not even come close to doing
what is necessary to make the mandate work," Cooper continued. "CARB's own
experts estimate this mandate will cost $500 million, and some estimates
indicate it could cost up to a billion dollars. So California may still be up
to $982 million short."
    The high cost of batteries adds an additional $7,500-$20,000 to the price
of electric vehicles depending on the model, according to CARB estimates.
Further, the vehicles have a cruising distance of only about 90 miles before
they require recharging, which can take up to six hours. There are currently
only 400 recharging stations in the entire state.