Electric vehicles promise economic benefits in th...( Move over gas-guzzlers. The year is 202...)

A recent study by James Winebrake, chair of public policy at Rochester Institute of Technology, analyzed this hypothetical transportation future and found economic benefits exceeding billions of dollars annually.

Winebrake's study, published in the spring issue of Futures Research Quarterly, assessed impacts on U.S. gross domestic product, trade and labor, as well as impacts on fuel cycle emissions. Results were compared with the U.S. Department of Energy's more conservative forecasts.

"Based on the scenario we looked at, the transfer of dollars from oil imports to domestic fuels--namely electricity--generates higher GDP, labor and reduced trade deficit," Winebrake says. "We estimate a GDP impact of about $40 billion annually due to this transfer."

Winebrake adds: "The aggressive electric-drive vehicle scenario is not a prediction, but allows us to identify the benefits of a future transportation sector that includes electricity. In the end we think electric drive vehicles are where the vehicle industry is headed and we wanted to get a sense of the potential impacts due to this shift."

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Contact: Susan Murphy
smmuns@rit.edu
585-475-5061
Rochester Institute of Technology
2-Jul-2003