Obama Scales Back Overly Ambitious Goals For Electric Car Use

President Barack Obama's long-standing goal to have a fully fuel-efficient government fleet and one million plug-in vehicles on the road will not be met.

With little fanfare, the President in March scaled back the ambitious goals laid out in 2009 that sought the million units on the road by 2015 as it became clear that technology and consumer interest were not keeping pace with his ideals. Sales and government purchases have failed to meet even lowered expectations, government sales data and U.S. sales data show.

Obama cut government purchase goals on March 19, but said the government will continue to work to improve fuel economy into the future. The U.S. bought about 24,816 electric and hybrid vehicles during Obama's presidency, or about seven percent of government purchases in that time, according to data from the U.S. General Service Administration. U.S. consumers bought about 286,814 of those models from 2009 to 2014, or three percent of overall sales.

Despite the changes in Obama's executive orders, GSA will continue to build on its efforts to provide a more environmentally sustainable fleet, said Bill Toth, Director of Motor Vehicle Management for the GSA.

"Presently, commercially available electric and hybrid vehicles do not align with the most purchased vehicle segments for federal fleets" which are trucks, GSA said in a statement. "They also come with a higher acquisition cost compared to conventional vehicles."

For the next 10-15 years the bulk of the fuel improvements will come from better gasoline engines and more use of hybrid technology, said Daniel Becker, Director of the Safe Climate Campaign, a proponent of regulations requiring higher-mileage cars. Beyond that time frame, electric cars may begin to gain more acceptance and technology will be improved, he said.

"The ground is being laid for an electric car future," he said. "But it’s not an electric car present."