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Obama points to jobs potential in electric vehicles

The President said America would pick up 40% of the world market for vehicle batteries in the next five years

President Obama defended his administration’s investment in the clean energy economy yesterday, as he visited an electric truck factory in Kansas City, Missouri.

After touring Smith Electric Vehicles, which produces Smith Newton trucks for the likes of AT&T, Coca-Cola, Frito-Lay, Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) and Staples, the President said 700,000 jobs would be created by energy investments alone over the next few years.

The President said: “This is not just going to boost our economy in the short term; this is going to lay a platform for the future. It’s going to create opportunities year after year after year, decade after decade after decade, as companies like Smith, that start small, begin to expand.”

The Presidential visit came as legislation seeks support in Congress to provide more funding for the move to mass adoption of electric vehicles (see this BrighterEnergy.org story).

The Electrification Coalition, a group of business leaders pushing for a move to electric transportation, said the President and his administration had made it clear electric vehicles should play a “major role in ending out nation’s dangerous dependence on oil”.

Robbie Diamond, president of the Electrification Coalition (EC), said: “Democrats and Republicans alike in both the House and Senate have lined up behind an electrification bill, and the administration has indicated its support; now it is time to move that legislation forward.”

Jobs

During his speech at Smith Electric, President Obama pointed in particular to the jobs creation potential for the US in building its manufacturing capability for advanced batteries for electric vehicles.

As more and more mainstream motor manufacturers look to introduce their own electrified cars and trucks, the President said grants and loan guarantees for US battery makers would help grow America’s share of the world market from 2% to 40% by 2015.

He stressed: “That means jobs. But that also means we’re going to have an expertise in a sector that’s just going to keep on growing all around the world for years to come.”

Smith Electric is the beneficiary of $32 million in funding from the US Department of Energy, which the President noted had helped bring back workers laid off during the economy, turning the Kansas City facility from the “ghostly silence of an emptied-out building” into a warehouse full of the “sounds of machines humming and people doing their work”.

Smith Newton

The Newton is currently the only all-electric medium or heavy duty truck on the federal government’s purchase list through the GSA Schedule.

The vehicle has a top speed of 50mph, offering a range of between 50 and 120 miles on a single charge.

Commenting on the President’s visit, Smith Electric CEO Bryan Hansel said: “The best way to understand this truck’s capabilities is to get in and drive it – and this grant will give more potential customers that opportunity.

“By eliminating concerns over fluctuating fossil fuel prices, commercial electric vehicles give business owners unprecedented cost certainty as they look toward managing the next five-to-ten years of their fleets.”