FuelCell Energy Inc (FCEL)

[anunnaki]

Electric vehicle sales fall far short of Obama goal

Leaves Fuel Cells wide open...

Back in 2008, with gas prices averaging nearly $4 a gallon, President Barack Obama set a goal of getting one million plug-in electric vehicles on the roads by 2015. Since then, [color=red]his administration has backed billions of dollars in EV subsidies/color] for consumers and the industry. Yet today – with gas prices near $2 a gallon - only about 400,000 electric cars have been sold. Last year, sales fell 6 percent over the previous year, to about 115,000, despite the industry offering about 30 plug-in models, often at deep discounts.

Ford CEO Mark Fields said last week that EVs "are a difficult sell at $2 a gallon.” Plug-in vehicles accounted for fewer than 1 percent of the 17.4 million cars and trucks sold last year, according to data from HybridCars.com and Baum & Associates, a Michigan-based market research firm.

The main obstacles for electric vehicles are their high cost and short driving range. The Chevy Bolt promises a breakthrough on both fronts, with a 200-mile range and a price starting at about $30,000 - after government incentives.

The author fails to address the issue of charging time as a main problem.

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-autos-electric-obama-insight-idUSKCN0UY0F0