US allocates $2.4 billion for greener automobiles
Mar 24, 2009 Auto Tech, Green Technologies
US President Obama
US President Barack Obama reiterated his promise for a greener US, at his latest speech at Edison Electric Vehicle Technical Center in Pomona, California, announcing plans for a $2.4 billion infusion into the US domestic electric vehicle industry. The funds will be drawn from the $787 billion economic stimulus law and will include plans like a $7500 tax credit for purchasing a plug-in hybrid.
The new funding for electric vehicles will be divided between the automakers and the parts suppliers. The automakers will receive $1.5 billion, while parts makers who are building electronic vehicle components will get $500 millions. These will be in form of loan guarantees and other investments. The remaining $400 million will be devoted to research and on building infrastructure. Both electric vehicle repair centers and community charging stations are targets for this funding.
The aim of all these funds is to create tens of thousands of jobs and develop new technology within US shores. The US president wants to change the current situation where the batteries for hybrids being developed by US manufacturers are actually coming from Japan, Korea and China. He dreams of a million hybrid vehicles on US roads by 2015.
In a related news, Solyndra, maker of cylindrical solar cells got a $535 million loan guarantee from US Department of Energy. The money will be used in construction of a solar panel fabrication facility in California, with an annual manufacturing capacity of 500 megawatts per year. The construction of this complex will employ approximately 3,000 people, the operation of the facility will create over 1,000 jobs, and hundreds of additional jobs will be created for the installation of Solyndra PV systems, in the U.S. These are important figures in today’s depressed job market.
Tags: Barack Obama, EV, Solyndra
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