12:00-2:00
Senate Russell 385
On May 28, 2020 Vision and the Heinrich Böll Foundation held a hill briefing to explore policy perspectives on the deployment of plug-in electric vehicles. Supported by the Senators Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), John Kerry (D-MA) and Richard Lugar (R-IN) the event looked at the potential of PEVs in transforming transportation by reducing C02 emissions, increasing energy independence and creating sustainable jobs. Two panels addressed the latest U.S. and European thinking on where federal policy should go and also presented the findings of a new HBF/2020 Vision report.
Germany intends to become a lead market for electric mobility by having one million PEVs on the streets by 2020. While a national strategy to reach this goal is likely to be adopted this summer, the Second German Recovery Package already includes € 500 million of funding on applied research on electric mobility.
In the U.S. President Barack Obama wants to reach the objective of one million PEVs already in 2015. Also, Congress has demonstrated bipartisan concern by passing the recovery package with $ 2,4 billion worth of funding for R&D on battery technology and grid integration.
Tom Z. Collina, Executive Director of 2020 Vision, presented the new HBF/2020 Vision report One Million Plug-In Electric Vehicles by 2015: Top Ten Policies for the U.S. to Get Plug-ins on the Road to Energy Security, Carbon Reductions, and Green Jobs. In order to succeed in the mass market, PEVs must become affordable, convenient and green, Collina explained. The paper outlines the top ten policies to reach this objective.
Download the report (24 pages, 5.57MB)
Watch interview with Tom Z. Collina (May 26, 2009, with Marc Strassman, Etopia News)
Program
Welcome: Till Kötter, Heinrich Böll Foundation
Panel 1: Providing the Right Federal Incentives
Patrick Davis, Program Manager, Vehicle Technologies, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, U.S. Department of Energy
Michael Carr, Majority Staff, Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee
Tom Z. Collina, Executive Director, 2020 Vision Education Fund
Moderator: Till Kötter, Heinrich Böll Foundation
Panel 2: New Business Models
John Waters, CEO and President, Bright Automotive
Jack D. Hidary, Chairman, SmartTransportation.org
Michael J. Granoff, Head of Oil Independence Policies, Better Place
Keith Cole, Director of Legislative and Regulatory Affairs, General Motors
Moderator: Ron Zucker, 2020 Vision