How serious is the US about Electric cars?

The US government had made unprecedented loans and grants that both small and big businesses. Whether it is for the actual manufacturing of a new car, or to startup companies looking to capitalize on new infrastructure technologies, governments have committed to spending billions of dollars to see that the electric vehicle industry as a whole will succeed. Recently, the Fisker Auto Company received a $529M loan from the US Government to help build a hybrid sports car. The Ford Motor company was awarded a $5.9 billion loan in June of this year. Tesla Motors, Silicon Valley’s electric car manufacturer, received a $465 million loan. All of the aforementioned loans came from the US Government’s $25 billion program to be used solely for development of electric/plug-in hybrid vehicles.


According to J.D. Powers, by 2012 up to 10% of all new vehicle sales in the U.S. will be alternative vehicles (defined as including both hybrid and all electric vehicles). Additionally, research from Alliance Bernstein suggests that by 2015, 50% of all new vehicle sales globally will be alternative vehicles. This could equate to sales of over 10 million alternative vehicles in the U.S. alone.