Obama Urged to Create National Electric Fuel Task Force

A call for a National Electric Fuel Task Force has been sent to President Barack Obama in order to help accelerate the adoption of plug-in electric vehicles and their infrastructure. The call is being made by organizations representing car manufacturers, electric utility companies and the electric drive industry.

The organizations comprise the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers (AAM), the Association of International Automobile Manufacturers (AIAM), the Edison Electric Institute (EEI) and the Electric Drive Transportation Association (EDTA).

AAM is a trade association of eleven car and light truck manufacturers including BMW Group, Chrysler, Ford Motor Company, General Motors, Jaguar Land Rover, Mazda, Mercedes-Benz, Mitsubishi Motors, Porsche, Toyota and Volkswagen.

AIAM is a trade association representing 15 international motor vehicle manufacturers who account for 40% of all passenger cars and light trucks sold annually in the United States.

EDTA is the trade association representing battery, hybrid, plug-in hybrid and fuel cell electric drive technologies and infrastructure.

EEI is the association of US shareholder-owned electric companies. Its members serve 95% of the ultimate customers in the shareholder-owned segment of the industry, and represent approximately 70% of the US electric power industry.

These organizations sent a letter to the White House in which they explained the need of a forum for public and private sector co-ordination and to address the challenges for large scale deployment of plug-in electric vehicles.

They believe a task force should be led by the Department of Energy and should also include federal and state regulators as well as utilities, environmental groups, standards organisations, electric drive industry stakeholders and consumer groups.