Governor betting big on e-cars in Oregon | KATU.com - News, Weather and Sports - Portland, Oregon | Technology: "Will 2010 be the year electric cars hit the road in Oregon?
Gov. Ted Kulongoski hopes so.
He's spent more than a year touring factories overseas, forging agreements with electric vehicle makers, prodding his staff to lobby for federal grants, and persuading the Legislature to tweak the tax code - all in pursuit of his vision of Oregon as a state that shows the way to a future where battery-powered cars are assembled, parts are made and motorists say goodbye to carbon-producing gasoline.
'It's going to be the showcase of where this is all going,' he said in a recent interview.
If things go as planned, the Oregon showcase goes on display starting next year.
That's when the state's share of a five-state, $100 million federal grant will help businesses expand into manufacturing electric vehicle components in Coburg, Albany and Lebanon. And it's when nearly 1,000 all-electric Nissan Leaf cars and more than 2,250 electric charging stations are supposed to arrive in Eugene, Corvallis, Salem and Portland through the same joint public-private venture, dubbed the EV Project."
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