GM Wants Robust, Timely Consumer Credits for Plug-Ins
By James M. Amend Ward's Dealer Business, Sep 1, 2008 12:00 PM

General Motors Corp. urges lawmakers in Washington to think about consumers' pocketbooks as they move closer to drafting climate-change policy.

“Energize consumers about advanced technologies by providing tax credits and other incentives for people who purchase plug-in, extended-range electric and fuel-cell vehicles,” says Beth Lowery, a GM vice president.

Her remarks at the Management Briefing Seminars in Traverse City, MI, mark some of GM's boldest requests of Washington since the 2007 increases in the corporate average fuel economy.

Both houses of Congress are pondering versions of consumer credits for plug-in electric vehicles, Lowery says, but Americans need the most robust consumer-credit incentives possible and the certainty they will be available by the time the vehicles enter the market.

GM expects to bring its Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid-electric vehicle to market by the end of 2010 and suggests a similar timetable for the debut of a Saturn Vue PHEV.

“Getting a meaningful consumer credit for plug-in electric vehicles is a must,” she adds. “It needs substance to make a real difference.”

Consumer credits aside, Lowery says, cars such as the Chevy Volt would trim the average American's per-mile fuel cost to $0.02, or as little as $0.01 when recharging off-peak, from $0.14 today with a vehicle that delivers roughly 30 mpg (8 L/100 km). Over an entire year, it would translate into a savings of $1,700.

“So it's not going to be difficult for consumers to see the advantage,” she says.