Group urge Electric Car Target of 200 Million by 2040

Electric vehicles should provide three-fourths of U.S. driving needs by 2040, with oil imports effectively “reduced to zero,” executives from companies including Nissan Motor Co., PG&E Corp. and FedEx Corp. said.

Meeting the goal for more than 200 million electric vehicles would require $130 billion in spending on efforts such as building battery-charging stations, according to a report today by the Electrification Coalition, a Washington-based group led by transportation and energy industry executives.

“Heavy reliance on petroleum has created unsustainable risks to American economic and national security,” the group said. “Electrified transportation has clear advantages.”

Federal aid to spur demand for more fuel-efficient autos has been luring companies including Nissan and General Motors Co. to push for all-electric vehicles. President Barack Obama seeks to have 1 million electric vehicles on U.S. roads within six years, compared with a few thousand being produced globally this year.

To reach the goal of 200 million vehicles, the government should concentrate consumer incentives and infrastructure subsidies on as many as 33 cities by 2018, the group said in its report. Targets leading up to the 2040 goal include 700,000 vehicles by 2013, 14 million by 2020 and 123 million by 2030, according to the report.

Among coalition members are executives from NRG Energy Inc. and AeroVironment, a maker of car-battery chargers.

http://www.electrificationcoalition.org/