New Coalition Sets Vision for Electric Transportation

On November 16, business leaders from 13 automotive manufacturers, electric utilities, and other energy and transportation-related companies launched a coalition working to make electric vehicles the primary mode of automotive transportation. The Electrification Coalition has announced a target of powering 75 percent of all vehicle miles traveled in the United States with electricity by the year 2040, and released a 91-page report called the Electrification Roadmap to outline policies to help achieve this goal.

In making the transition to electric vehicles, the United States would dramatically decrease its dependence on oil from the Middle East and other politically charged regions. The increased electric demand could initially be met by existing off-peak surplus capacity, while domestic energy resources, such as coal, natural gas, wind, and solar power also would need to be ramped up in order to meet reach the targets laid out by the Coalition. Expanded use of electric vehicles promises to lower greenhouse gas emissions from cars and trucks, especially as renewable and low carbon energy sources provide an increasing portion of U.S. electricity.

However, a number of challenges, including vehicle and charging station availability, must be overcome in order to reach the Coalition’s goals. In order to meet these challenges, the report advocates for the creation of a handful of “electricity ecosystem” cities across the country. Each of these cities would build charging stations and support 50,000 to 100,000 electric vehicles on the road by 2013. Rolling out the essential components for an electric vehicle revolution in a concentrated fashion in these locales would show policymakers and consumers the feasibility and benefits of a fully-deployed electric vehicle industry.

In November 2008, the Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI), the 2020 Vision Education Fund and the Heinrich Boell Foundation held a Congressional briefing on plug-in electric vehicles and their potential to reduce oil consumption and greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change. For further information on plug-in vehicles, please visit EESI’s Plug-In Electric Vehicles factsheet .