{
  "id": "R45747",
  "type": "CRS Report",
  "typeId": "REPORTS",
  "number": "R45747",
  "active": true,
  "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
  "versions": [
    {
      "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
      "id": 599222,
      "date": "2019-06-03",
      "retrieved": "2019-12-20T18:59:11.269501",
      "title": "Vehicle Electrification: Federal and State Issues Affecting Deployment",
      "summary": "Most of the 270 million cars, trucks, and buses on U.S. highways are powered by internal combustion engines using gasoline or diesel fuel. However, improvements in technology have led to the emergence of vehicle electrification as a potentially viable alternative to internal combustion engines. Several bills pending in the 116th Congress address issues and incentives related to electric vehicles and charging infrastructure. \nExperience with fully electric vehicles is relatively recent: While a few experimental vehicles were marketed in the United States in the 1990s, the first contemporary all-electric passenger vehicles were introduced in 2010. Since then, newer models have increased the range an electric vehicle can travel on a single charge, and charging stations have become more readily available. These developments have been spurred by a range of government incentives, both in the United States and abroad. Transit buses are the fastest-growing segment of vehicle electrification in China, while in the United States and the European Union, the pace of bus electrification is slower.\nIn the United States, federal incentives for electric passenger vehicle purchases have remained largely unchanged for more than a decade and are based primarily on tax credits for electric vehicle purchases and recharging infrastructure investments, and spending on battery chemistry research to develop less-expensive technologies:\nThe plug-in electric tax credit permits a taxpayer to take a credit of up to $7,500 for each vehicle that can be recharged from the electricity grid; it phases out after a manufacturer has sold 200,000 eligible vehicles, a threshold that has been met by Tesla and General Motors.\nA tax credit for installation of alternative fuel vehicle refueling property expired in 2017; it had allowed a tax credit of $1,000 for equipment installed at a residence and up to $30,000 for business installations.\nInvestment in transportation electrification research and development (R&D), which has led to the gradual reduction in the cost of producing lithium-ion batteries, is administered by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) in cooperation with private industry. Although the Trump Administration has recommended large reductions in these programs, Congress has maintained annual funding for sustainable transportation of nearly $700 million in the past two fiscal years. \nOther programs that directly influence the level of vehicle electrification include the DOE Clean Cities Program, which supports local efforts to reduce fossil fuel-powered transportation, and the Department of Transportation\u2019s Alternative Fuel Corridors, which are designated Interstate Highway corridors with a sufficient number of alternative fueling stations, including electric vehicle chargers, to allow alternative fuel vehicles to travel long distances. The federal government also funds municipal transit bus electrification through Federal Transit Administration grants, which may be used for the purchase of all-electric buses. The pace of electrification also may be affected by proposals for less stringent federal standards for Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) and greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles. \nBeyond these federal programs, states and electric utilities provide a range of incentives for electrification. The National Conference of State Legislatures reports that 45 states and the District of Columbia offer incentives such as income tax credits for electric vehicle and charger purchases, reduced registration fees, and permitting solo drivers of electric vehicles to use carpool lanes. The California Zero Emission Vehicle program is spurring sales of electric vehicles in 10 states. Utilities can provide incentives to charge during off-peak hours, install public electric charging infrastructure, and utilize vehicle-to-grid (V2G) storage. V2G storage would allow idle vehicle batteries to supply electricity to the grid rather than drawing power from it during peak demand periods.",
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      "typeId": "REPORTS",
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      "topics": [
        {
          "source": "IBCList",
          "id": 4826,
          "name": "Highways & Highway Vehicles"
        },
        {
          "source": "IBCList",
          "id": 4840,
          "name": "Electricity"
        },
        {
          "source": "IBCList",
          "id": 4843,
          "name": "Transportation Infrastructure & Vehicles"
        },
        {
          "source": "IBCList",
          "id": 4935,
          "name": "Energy Tax"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "topics": [
    "Economic Policy",
    "Energy Policy",
    "Industry and Trade"
  ]
}