The electric car and grid parity

Nissan's prototype electric vehicle with extended battery life

Governments need to intervene until the markets for alt-sustainable technologies mature, as we were reminded last week when meeting with Tim McCabe, director of Oregon's Economic & Community Development Dept. and Mark Brady, the department's sustainable development liaison.

The solar market, for example, has been around for some time, but it has been a fringe technology in commercial terms. But with Japan mandating that 70 percent of the country's new houses will be powered by photovoltaic solar energy by 2020, "that creates a market," McCabe notes. (It also gives a boost to Japanese solar energy companies, who have lost ground this decade to competitors in other countries.)
Similarly, such mandates and incentives will drive the market for electric cars for a while. The Oregon Legislature is contemplating bills that provide credits for both manufacturers and purchasers of electric cars. The idea is to electric vehicles more competitive with conventional, gas-powered vehicles, so that a purchaser can consider paying roughly the same amount for either.

The state of Michigan, which has seen its economy decimated by the collapse of the gas-powered auto industry, is pouring incentives into the alt-car market. It has awarded tax credits worth about $100 million to each of four manufacturers of electric-hybrid car batteries. That's the kind of incentive that tends to invite new entrants to the field, and indeed, Michigan has seen new ventures springing up from local and global companies.

Oregon can't afford to play that game, or at least not at those levels, but McCabe thinks it remains a serious contender for Norwegian electric car manufacturer Think.

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