Zoomi Life

It appears that if the State of Oregon has their way, they’ll become the nation’s electric vehicle capital.  Three huge announcements have propelled this recently, though the state seems to be overlooking it’s current EV base.

Oregon wants to be the nation’s friendliest state for building, buying and selling electric cars. Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski was part of three major announcements, one after the other:

1. Nissan’s partnership with the state and plans to introduce Nissan’s EV in Oregon in late 2010.
2. TH!NK considered Oregon high on the list of the 8 potential U.S. sites for manufacture of the TH!NK City electric car.
3. Mitsubishi announced a strategic alliance with Oregon to develop an electric car charging infrastructure in the state as well as release upcoming EV models in Oregon.

For his part, Oregon’s governor is pushing an aggressive plan to give heavy tax breaks to EV manufacturers who choose Oregon as their U.S. base.  He’s also lobbying for heavy tax breaks to EV purchasers in Oregon.

Oregon is already home to some great EV makers, though the governor seems to be largely uninterested in helping or promoting them. Companies like Barefoot Motors, who just recently released their all-electric ATV to the market and BugE, makers of the 3-wheeled enclosed electric bicycle.  Neither of those are included in the governor’s EV plans or rebates.

Source: Green Inc.