President Obama’s clean energy program included $36 billion in taxpayer funding, more than double that of the previous administration, and a lot of that money went into electric cars.
Obama touted his decision to use federal stimulus money to “invest” heavily into electric cars and clean energy at the climate summit in Paris this week, saying his administration has “met our goals a lot quicker than expected.”
But investigative reporter Sharyl Attkisson delved into the program in her latest production of Full Measure and found the program’s goals are actually way behind.
In her segment titled “Electric cars running on E,” Attkisson pointed out that the goal of putting 1 million electric cars on the road by the end of 2015 has fallen woefully short. Only about one-third that many electric cars, heavily subsidized with tax incentives, have been sold.
And six of the 11 main manufacturers have gone belly up or stopped manufacturing, she said.
Tesla Motors got half a billion dollars to make the Model 2 electric vehicle. It was one of the few success stories. It went from 0 to 60 in 2.8 seconds and strong sales helped it pay back its $10 million government loan early.
Others, like the Volkswagen E Golf, and the Chevy Volt, have not been so successful.
Greg Sullivan, an analyst with the Pioneer think tank in Boston: I think the Obama administration hoped that by offering large incentives it could jumpstart a movement; but it didn’t materialize.
“With vehicles that can only go 80 miles to charge it ends up costing more than regular cars. Deal killers,” Sullivan told Attkisson.
The government offered up to $10,000 in tax credits on some electric car models.
They also gave loans to manufacturers. It’s projections turned out to be wildly optimistic.
Case in point: Fisker Automotive, which got a half-billion dollar taxpayer loan.
The Fisker plant in Newcastle County, Delaware, was rolled out as a shiny example of what government could do in a public-private partnership or so-called PPP.
After a big announcement that included statements by Vice President Joe Biden, state officials and local officials in Newcastle County, it as time for Fisker to deliver its first car.
It was called the Karma, and it cost $100,000.
It came complete with a faulty lithium-ion battery built by a company called A123 which also got a federal loan worth $2.3 million.
Both Fisker and A123 ended up in bankruptcy and were bought by the same Chinese firm.
The 3.2 million square foot “ghost factory” with weeds growing up in the pavement now sits idle in Newcastle County, Attkisson said.
“It costs too much to drive an electric car, and the middle class is struggling. They’re more worried about how they’re going to feed their family. You’re not going to sell many electric cars even on the West Coast right now,” said Tom Gordon, the top economic development official in Newcastle County.
Two years after Obama’s announcement, six of the 11 relied upon electric manufacturers have already stopped production or gone belly up, making it nearly impossible to meet the goal of 1 million electric cars on the road by the end of this year.
“It’s a great goal, and they really do reduce greenhouse gases,” Sullivan said. “The problem is the government got ahead of itself, giving multibillion dollar incentives for people to buy cars, but the cars that we’re trying to coerce them into buying really weren’t practical.”
But the Obama administration isn’t ready to throw in the towel.
The Department of Energy released a statement to Attkisson saying, “This transformation, even if met later than targeted, will reduce Americans’ dependence on petroleum, making transportation more sustainable, while creating jobs and stimulating economic growth.”
