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Although often billed as matching measures, the House and Senate versions of the Electric Drive Vehicle Deployment Act introduced today have several key differences.


One biggie: The Senate version of the measure establishes a $10 million prize for the developer of a commercially viable EV battery capable of delivering 500 miles of range on a single charge.


Another: The House version sets aside funds to incentivize hydrogen fuel-cell electric vehicles; the Senate version ignores fuel cell vehicles. Neither measure provides aid for development of hydrogen fuel infrastructure.


And except for a provision the House version that calls for $100 million in bonds to be sold by regional governments to help fund infrastructure development, we haven't seen anything in either bill that says discusses where the money will come from. Apparently that's something to be worked out as the measures are debated.


Both bills are being cheered by EV and environmental activists, who see the effort as the first time Congress has taken a bipartisan look at methods of promoting rapid introduction and use of electric-drive vehicles, a category that covers plug-in hybrids, battery-electric vehicles and, in at least the House version of the measure, hydrogen fuel-cell electric vehicles.


We brought you a broad outline of the two bills early this morning, now here's some additional detail and a look, as we understand things based on preliminary info (the full text of the measures hasn't been posted yet) at the major differences.
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Tags: Legislation, Plug-ins and Electric, Electric Drive Vehicle Deployment Act 2010; Electric Vehicle Incentives, EV Incentives, EVs

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Congress Gets 2 Versions of EV Bill: All Together Now, 'We Can Work it Out...' was originally published by Green Car Advisor. Read the full story by clicking here.