[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 118 (Friday, August 3, 2012)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1427]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


  INTRODUCTION OF THE ELECTRIC VEHICLE PURCHASING CREDIT EXPANSION ACT

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                            HON. JANICE HAHN

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, August 2, 2012

  Ms. HAHN. Mr. Speaker, every day, we see the damage done by our 
dependence on oil. We see high gas prices threatening our economic 
recovery and burdening families already struggling to make ends meet. 
We see rising temperatures and sea levels. We see higher respiratory 
disease rates. And we see any number of distant regimes holding our 
foreign policy hostage, weakening our ability to stand by our 
principles and our friends.
  It is time for us to throw off these burdens and step into the 
future.
  One of the most promising and necessary things we can do to leave oil 
behind is speed our transition to electric vehicles. Passenger cars 
alone use more than 40 percent of the oil consumed in this country. By 
2020, the National Resources Defense Council estimates Americans will 
spend $260 billion a year on gas. Just think of what we stand to gain 
from switching to electric vehicles. I drive an electric vehicle 
myself, back home in Los Angeles. I get to drive right on past the gas 
station. In fact, I have not been to a gas station in almost a year. 
The technology is here, all we need to do is implement it.
  Unfortunately, the higher price tag of electric vehicles has impeded 
wide-spread adoption by placing them beyond the reach of many of the 
Americans who stand to benefit most.
  The Electric Vehicle Purchasing Credit Expansion Act would increase 
the existing tax credit offered for the purchase of these vehicles--
broadening access and speeding deployment in the near term, and helping 
to jumpstart the market and realize the economies of scale that will 
make electric vehicles no more expensive than a gas-powered car.
  Since 2009, qualified plug-in electric vehicles have received a 
federal income tax credit of up to $7,500, depending on their kilowatt-
per-hour capacity. The Electric Vehicle Purchasing Credit Expansion Act 
would increase the tax credit to $10,000, raising the base credit 
claimable by all plug-in electric vehicles to $3,750, and the maximum 
kilowatt-per-hour credit to $6,250 (fully claimable at 19 kwhr).
  By passing this bill, we can clean our air, free our foreign policy 
by strengthening our hand with regimes like Iran, and put money lost at 
the pump back into the pockets of American consumers.

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