There seems to be a groundswell of support of Plug-In Hybrids and hybrid technology in general. I would like to think that a lot of that has to do with the advocacy and education provided by groups like AustinEV, the Electric Auto Association and the Plug-In Partners campaign. But maybe it is just the right time. Who knows. However, with all this movement, there is the inevitable talk of tax credits, government matching and other incentives to try and get people to switch transportation technologies or to get producers to actually build the cars.

I strongly believe that for something to happen it MUST be able to happen on its own for it to succeed long term. Government incentives and tax breaks help, but they often disappear when emerging trends are at their most fragile. It will tend to catch people like us (REVOLT Custom Electric Vehicles) out on the edge if we weren't already building a strong considered business structure. If the technology didn't make sense to begin with, incentives will build false demand. When those go away, so do the customers. So does all the hard work.

Anyway, that's not what this post was originally going to be about. One of my concerns is that localities and government in general tend to leave the small guy out of the equation when they do *anything* and they seem to be doing it with all this electric vehicle effort as well. Most incentive programs and tax breaks are being written to support the purchase of a *new* electric vehicle and most charging infrastructure is often installed so that it requires expensive connectors and computer controlled charging systems to hook up to.. It locks the home conversion and the small custom electric vehicle producer out of the picture. These are our base. These are our advocates. They are motivated, love the technology and want to help others. Sure, they aren't building thousands of cars, but ANYTHING helps.

Some simple questions:

Why can't local and federal government see that there is value in supporting the garage efforts being made by our members?
They spend more for the cars they put together. They take a gas powered car off the road and recycle it into a clean EV. They are motivated and they care.

Why aren't they writing the incentives to allow for professional conversions at the very least?
Yes, I am starting a custom EV shop in Austin, but I have wondered about this for some time. There are several EV conversion shops that have been in business for quite some time and most legislation/incentive programs I have seen specifically exclude conversions from any of the "perks" that they provide. Is it just a matter of letting them know that these guys exist? I have a feeling that it isn't "big business" enough for them to have found on their own...

Honestly, I have been a bit troubled about the amount of effort our EV organizations have been spending on the PHEV concept. I agree that it is a good thing, but it is obvious that the PHEV message is easier to convey if you don't go into the third paragraph about how Battery Electric Vehicles are probably our future and these other technologies are really just gateway drugs.. [grin]

Anyway, that's just me grumping in the early AM and Carabou didn't want to talk about it. So, you get to read it.. or not. [smile] Contact me on my contact form if you have any ideas. Perhaps we could be doing better in the traditional Battery Electric Vehicle advocacy side of things.