WASHINGTON - The Electrification Coalition has released a new report, titled "Fleet Electrification Roadmap," which analyzes the benefits and challenges of electric vehicle deployment. The study recommends policies aimed at accelerating conversion of the 16 million commercial, corporate and government fleet vehicles on the road in the U.S.

The Electrification Coalition is a nonpartisan, not-for-profit group of business leaders committed to development of an electric vehicle market.

PRTM, a global management consulting firm, partnered with the Electrification Coalition to provide the EV market analysis, technical input and lifecycle cost modeling for the Fleet Electrification Roadmap. The report also uses the expertise of GE Capital Fleet Services in its analysis, findings and recommendations.

The report, available at www.electrificationcoalition.org, also assesses the potential impact of fleet electrification on transportation, energy security and sustainability.

"Since the Electrification Coalition was formed one year ago, we have made enormous progress in moving electric vehicles to the forefront of the nation's energy policy conversation," coalition member Frederick W. Smith, CEO of FedEx Corp., said. "Our main focus continues to be the promotion of a comprehensive policy framework for accelerating consumer adoption of PHEVs and EVs. But it is important to consider all of the applications where electric drive technology makes sense, and what we have found is that the case is very strong for a number of fleet applications over the next five years. Fleet electrification alone will not solve our pressing energy security challenges, but by bringing costs down, it will provide a critical boost to the consumer electric vehicle market."

The Fleet Roadmap is geared toward demonstrating targeted opportunities in which the lower operating costs of electric drive vehicles, coupled with the operational norms of commercial and government fleets, could make adoption of PHEVs and EVs highly attractive.

The report also identifies significant technological challenges facing fleet operators, and recommends targeted public policies to help overcome those challenges, including:

• Tax credits for light-duty PHEVs and EVs deployed in fleets

• Tax credits for medium- and heavy-duty PHEVs and EVs

• Clean renewable energy bonds for infrastructure

• Guarantee of residual value for the first generation of lithium-ion batteries

• Federal fleet electrification, including the Postal Service.

The Fleet Roadmap presents the results of detailed total cost of ownership modeling for PHEVs and EVs in fleet applications for a number of industries. The analysis suggests that with targeted, temporary policies in place, fleet adoption of PHEVs and EVs could result in a cumulative 200,000 vehicles on the road by 2015.

"This report and its findings come at the right time for the electric vehicle industry," said Robbie Diamond, president and CEO of the Electrification Coalition. "Fleet purchases like the one GE announced just last week can help drive critical scale in manufacturing that will ultimately help drive down costs for the entire electric vehicle market. Fleet adoption is a major step toward overcoming challenges to widespread consumer acceptance of electric vehicles, which is the critical measure of electrification's success in ending our nation's dangerous dependence on petroleum."

Last week, as part of GE's strategy to accelerate clean energy technology, the company announced the largest single electric vehicle purchase commitment of 25,000 vehicles by 2015. GE also launched an electric vehicle readiness toolkit on www.ecomagination.com to help municipalities, customers and individuals prepare for wide-scale electric vehicle deployment.