Obama's Electric Car Champion. By Ken Thomas, AP, August 24, 2010. "David Sandalow starts his five-mile commute each day by unplugging an orange extension cord connecting his Toyota Prius hybrid to an outlet in his brick carport... If American consumers begin to shift to electric cars this decade, Sandalow will be one of the government's driving forces behind the change. Crafting policy from the vantage point of an electric car driver himself, the former Brookings Institution scholar has helped shape the Obama administration's ambitious plan to pump billions of dollars into partnerships aimed at developing cars running on electric power, creating an advanced battery industry and helping communities prepare for the transition.
"President Barack Obama has pledged to bring 1 million plug-in hybrid electric vehicles to U.S. highways by 2015, and turned to the nascent battery industry as one of the hallmarks of his economic recovery plan. Electric vehicles built by General Motors and Nissan are arriving in showrooms later this year and every major auto manufacturer is working on an electric strategy, encouraged by federal funding and tax incentives. Plenty of obstacles remain: the lithium-ion batteries expected to power electric vehicles are extremely expensive, even when the costs are reduced by a $7,500-per-vehicle federal tax credit. The government recently estimated that a battery with a 100-mile range costs about $33,000, although federal stimulus funds could bring the costs down to $10,000 by the end of 2015. Other concerns remain about the durability and longevity of the batteries.
"Sandalow discovered the merits of electric cars while studying oil dependence at Brookings. His 2007 book, Freedom From Oil... concludes that electric cars and plug-in hybrid-electric vehicles represented the quickest way to begin making the shift. With more than 240 million vehicles on the road, it will take years to turn over the fleet, but he noted that drivers with short commutes -- like his own daily trip to the Energy Department from his home in Washington -- could use electric power, recharging at night when electrical loads are low. Following his research, Sandalow decided to get his Prius, a gas-electric hybrid, converted into a plug-in hybrid at a Gaithersburg, Md., auto dealership. The $9,000 conversion, which was developed by Massachusetts battery maker A123Systems, included the installation of a large battery inside the spare tire well underneath the trunk and a charging outlet in the bumper. The conversion allows Sandalow to recharge his battery from a standard 110-volt outlet in about six hours. His family owns another car but Sandalow says his plug-in Prius is used for long-distance travel as well. Sandalow estimates running the car on electricity costs the equivalent of about 75 cents a gallon of gasoline."
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