Electric Car Sales Run Out Of Gas

Sales of electric cars have flat lined, despite intrusive federal government efforts to fuel consumer demand. Disappointing results are particularly a blow to the president, who has championed the alternative fuel vehicles by providing billions of taxpayer dollars in research funding and tax credits.

For the first quarter of this year, the much ballyhooed Chevy Volt recorded 1,210 sales. The automaker couldn't even sell the paltry 1,800 Volts it manufactured in the first three months. The sales numbers look puny when compared with the total Chevy sales of 416,505 during the quarter. Since its introduction last year, Volt sales stand at 1,536 units. No wonder General Motors has lowered its annual production estimate to 10,000 of the electric-gas hybrid Volt, down from its original 60,000.

Chevy's competition in the category, Nissan's all-electric Leaf, has not fared any better. The Leaf turned in sales of 471 vehicles, despite heavy promotion. In all of last year, 19 Leafs limped off the showroom floor. By comparison, sales of Toyota's Pirus hybrid topped 100,000 in just a single month during the first quarter.

Sales figures for electric cars must be particularly worrisome for the administration in light of soaring gas prices, which are creeping toward $5 a gallon in some parts of the country. Afterall, sticker shock at the gas pump was supposed to send consumers scurrying to car showrooms to snap up the electric vehicles, the "green" alternative hyped by Obama.

In fact, the president took advantage of the government's bailout of General Motors to compell an early roll out for the Volt. The media did its part, breathlessly reporting that the electric cars would revolutionize the auto industry. All that was needed for a perfect storm was careening gas prices. But even that hasn't helped sales.

The problem is that consumers saw through all the hyperbole. Electric cars are no bargain because consumers quickly learned the range on a single charge was less than advertised. Popular Mechanics measured the range at 33 miles for the Volt, despite GM's claims of 40 miles. After the lithium-ion battery charge is exhausted, the gas engine supplies electricity to power the vehicle. This means the Volt is neither all-electric nor all-gas powered, putting it in a quandary with demanding drivers.

But that wasn't the only issue for consumers. The electric cars required 10 to 12 hours of charging on household current to rev up the vehicle. Not only is that costly, but the cars were consuming electricity generated by plants pumping carbons into the air. Weren't electric cars supposed to reduce carbon emissions?

Consumers also have turned up their noses at a $7,500 tax credit offered by the Obama Administration. The credit was designed to provide the incentive consumers needed to swap their gas guzzlers for the not-so-sleek electric cars. Consumers weren't duped, opting for stylish, powerful, gasoline vehicles. As proof, GM sold 19,000 gas gulping Camero sports cars in the first quarter, dwarfing sales of electric cars produced in the U.S.

Tepid consumer reception is a rebuke for the president's scheme to use the power of the government to force electric cars down the throats of a skeptical public. Besides tax credits, the administration has committed $2.4 billion to research electric car batteries. Another $115 million has been spent on solving the problem of limited battery range with research aimed at building charging stations in metro areas.

What this illustrates is that government intervention in private industry is bad policy. The government has no business promoting one type of car over another. Consumers will vote with their pocketbooks to decide the winners and losers in the automobile industry. The public doesn't need its government spending taxpayers' dollars to influence consumer decisions.

Unfortunately, this lesson will likely be lost on the Obama Administration, which views government as the solution not the problem.