Big news today: we start with some background about the candidates
and plug-in cars, then we go to what each candidate has said in the
past few days, with our comments on each.

GENERAL COMMENTS BY CALCARS:

"We're thrilled that Presidential candidates are talking about
plug-in hybrids. It shows we've reached a tipping point, where our
elected leaders, CEOs and grass-roots advocates and automakers all
agree it makes sense to power cars with cleaner, cheaper, domestic
electricity. Let's make sure the focus remains on reducing fossil
fuel use through near-term mass production -- not on long-term R&D
that makes the perfect the enemy of the good and could be an excuse
to postpone commercialization."


BACKGROUND: BOTH CANDIDATES HAVE SEEN AND PRAISED PLUG-IN HYBRIDS

Some weeks ago, we put up a bare-bones page
http://www.calcars.org/phev-presidents.html showing them with PHEVs,
as part of our preparation for the Google-Brookings Institution
conference. At that conference we proposed a strategy to have the
candidates agree that plug-in cars wouldn't be a campaign issue this
fall because whichever of them was elected, automakers should know
that next year, they could expect major federal support for PHEVs.
(The candidates have actually issued a joint statement to this effect
on Darfur
http://www.savedarfur.org/page/content/Candidates_Statement/ that we
saw as precedent, and they have both said that the incoming President
would not challenge California's pioneering emissions regulations
that have been so strongly blocked by the current administration.)

It's now clear that candidates, advocates and carmakers are all
focusing on January 20, 2008. Brookings' David Sandalow's book,
"Freedom From Oil" (which you can order via
http://www.calcars.org/books.html ) remains the best roadmap,
providing background, a full program, talking points and a
Presidential Address on the subject. Taking their cues from the
subject of the conference, "Federal Policy on Plug-In Cars," in their
presentations both Ford and GM emphasized the benefit of federal
support. And the Energy Dept. took the occasion to announce awards of
small development contracts that would for the first time involve
Ford, GM and Chrysler (working with GE) on PHEV projects -- even
though the total amount of awards is only $30M.

Now it looks like our game plan has been superceded by events in both
campaigns. Here are the latest developments plus our responses.


THE MCCAIN CAMPAIGN
Today John McCain proposed a "Clean Car Challenge" including $5,000
incentives for zero-emission vehicles and a $300M prize for a battery
that's 30% better than we have today. Among the hundreds of news
stories, this from the AP
report
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jfqkglGaJzMm-z8hIuFPKpCqLkwwD91FQ6L81

The presumed Republican nominee is proposing a $300 million
government prize to whoever can develop an automobile battery that
far surpasses existing technology. The bounty would equate to $1 for
every man, woman and child in the country, "a small price to pay for
helping to break the back of our oil dependency," McCain said in
remarks prepared for delivery Monday at Fresno State University in
California. McCain said such a device should deliver power at 30
percent of current costs and have "the size, capacity, cost and power
to leapfrog the commercially available plug-in hybrids or electric
cars." The Arizona senator is also proposing stiffer fines for
automakers who skirt existing fuel-efficiency standards, as well as
incentives to increase use of domestic and foreign alcohol-based
fuels such as ethanol. In addition, a so-called Clean Car Challenge
would provide U.S. automakers with a $5,000 tax credit for every
zero-carbon emissions car they develop and sell.

We can perhaps thank in part long-time PHEV advocate James Woolsey,
former CIA director and the coiner of the catchy description of the
PHEV campaign as * The Lonodon Daily Telegraph, in reporting
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/uselection2008/johnmccain/2169365/Joh\
n-McCain-hires-former-CIA-director-Jim-Woolsey-as-green-advisor.html
that he is McCain's key energy advisor says, "He is one of a new
generation of so-called "Greenocons", campaigners who are making the
case for a green American foreign and energy policy not just to save
the planet, but to keep America safe too."

CALCARS' TAKE ON THE PROPOSAL

"We're glad that plug-in cars are becoming a central focus for
Senator McCain. The tax credit idea sends the message to carmakers
that Washington understands that federal support in electrifying
transportation is a great investment and it's the end of business as
usual. That means carmakers' business models are out the window and
they have great opportunities to take a leap into innovation. We also
hope Washington will see the near-term benefit of incentives for
converting many of today's internal combustion engine cars.

"As for the battery prize, we've all known people who postponed
buying a computer for years because the next version would be better
-- but meanwhile they lost the use of that invaluable tool. The clock
is ticking on energy security and global warming and the world can't
wait to get started. Prizes do a great job catching people's
attention and inspiring innovation, but we hope the call for improved
batteries doesn't obscure the reality that today's batteries are good
enough for Version 1.0 PHEVs. General Motors in particular is showing
we don't have to wait for new technology. Cheaper and lighter
batteries will be the icing on the cake."


THE OBAMA CAMPAIGN
Meanwhile, over the weekend, Senator Obama told a group of Democratic
governors in Chicago, reports AP
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jNlJOuGuTs5qgEuIws8f56V48hyAD91DVH680
, that "he would invest $150 billion over the next 10 years to create
green jobs, particularly in the automotive industry and to improve
the electricity grid so people can drive plug-in hybrid vehicles."

CALCARS' VIEW

"Senator Obama has a history of support for PHEVs that goes back to
his 2005, including the Obama-Insley "Health Care for Hybrids" bill
introduced in 2006. We know that he has been hearing from many
sources that it's time to talk about the benefits of plug-in cars and
what can be done to promote and incentivize them, and we look forward
to hearing more.

"As for the power grid, there are many reasons to modernize and
improve it, but plug-in cars don't have to wait for that. Reports
from federal laboratories and speeches by utility CEOs confirm that
we today's power grid is more than adequate to begin plugging in tens
of millions of cars, especially at night when we have more power than
we can use."

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Felix Kramer fkramer@...
Founder California Cars Initiative
http://www.calcars.org
http://www.calcars.org/news-archive.html
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