Bush Administration throws some crumbs to Plug-In Hybrid advancement...any surprise?

http://blog.wired.com/cars/2008/06/feds-scrape-tog.html

The Bush Administration has shown its support for plug-in hybrids by promising a measly $30 million to get them on the road within eight years, a figure and a timeline some automakers and plug-in advocates say is too little and too long. Getting these cars on the road quickly, they say, should be a national priority with the funding to match.

The Department of Energy made a big deal of the hand-out, announcing it at a plug-in hybrid conference in Washington D.C., but c'mon -- $30 million? To be spread out among three companies over three years? What'd it do -- scrounge change from couch cushions in the Pentagon? Granted, the award brings to $71.3 million the amount DOE has invested in hybrid and plug-in hybrid technology in the past three years, and EV advocates were quick to thank Uncle Sam for the money. But they said it's going to take a whole lot more than that to wean us from oil -- which, by the way, will collect $17 billion in tax breaks during the next decade.

"It's great to see the DOE upping its support of plug-in vehicles and getting the major car companies involved," Sherry Boschert, vice-president of Plug In America, told Wired.com. "Unfortunately, the $30 is a drop in the bucket compared with funding that DOE blows on less viable and potentially harmful options like hydrogen fuel cell cars and corn-based biofuels."

General Motors, Ford and General Electric will share the money, which is part of the $41.2 million DOE is investing in the technology this year. Assistant Energy Secretary Andy Karsner said the funding accelerate development of the cars to make them cost-competitive by 2014 and commercially viable by 2016.

2016? When the Chevrolet Volt and a plug-in Prius could be in showrooms by 2010 and Nissan says it'll skip plugs entirely and give us an EV at about the same time?

Plug-in advocates weren't alone in expressing dismay at the DOE timeline. Sen. Robert Mendez, D-N.J., chastised the agency for not thinking bigger and pushing harder, saying, "The administration lacks a sense of urgency on this issue."

To be fair, plug-in hybrids still face challenges and even Toyota is telling people not to expect miracles. Bill Reinert, the automakers U.S. head of advanced technology, told Automotive News the range may not be as great as people expect. "When we see the (claims of) 100 mile-per-gallon stuff, not everybody's going to get 100 miles per gallon," he says.

They don't have to. Seventy percent of us don't drive more than 40 miles a day. A car that will go that far on a single charge will free most people from gasoline. But even that's a tough goal to meet, and lithium-ion batteries remain the biggest hurdle. Congress has said it will increase research funding in the years to come, but how much is anyone's guess.

Automakers could use nickel metal hydride batteries, which Toyota's been putting in the Prius for 10 years. But Mark Fields, president of the Americas for Ford Motor Co., says battery technology is just one problem. He laid out several others in a speech during the plug-in conference and said it's time for Washington to get involved in solving them.

"In order for us to succeed, we must make this a national priority," he says. "We are doing our part to transform the industry and invest in new technologies. However, in a global environment, a substantial government partnership is required. The governments of Japan, China, Korea, and India are significantly funding the research, development and deployment of plug-in hybrid vehicle technologies. This is a race that we must win."

What would it take to win? David Sandalow, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and former Clinton Administration official, says we could transform the nation's vehicle fleet if we spent about $18.5 billion over the next decade. He lays it out like this in "Freedom from Oil: How the Next President Can End the United States' Oil Addiction":

• $5 billion to help automakers retool production plants.
• $12 billion in consumer tax credits for plug-in hybrids.
• $1 billion to add 30,000 plug-in hybrids to the government fleet each year for 10 years.
• $500 million to underwrite warranties on lithium-ion batteries until the technology is proven.

Eighteen-point-five billion. The proposal that Congress shot down this week to tax Big Oil's windfall profits and take away its tax subsidies would have just about covered that.

UPDATE - Post updated 11 a.m. PDT June 16. DOE spokeswoman Jennifer Scoggins tells us last week's funding award is one of several the agency has made in recent years to advance the development of hybrids and plug-in hybrids. The agency allocated $1.4 million in 2006, $28.7 million last year and plans to allocate $41.2 million this year. DOE also has requested $51.1 million to disburse next year.