Outgoing US Department of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood has bucked many stereotypes and trends within the past 4 years. He was a Republican working in a leading position in the Obama administration. Despite being Republican, he was also a strong advocate for bicycling and walking as transportation options (probably the greatest our country has ever seen) and high-speed rail. And he is also a strong believer that the future of automobiles is electricity.
“By 2025, all of us, every family, will have some kind of hybrid or electric vehicle,” LaHood said in his departure speech.
To be honest, that’s even more optimistic than I would venture to be when it comes to EVs. I think almost any family that owns a car will own an EV or hybrid, but there’s no way every family will own a vehicle (not including bikes)… so there’s no way that’s coming true.
But the message is clear — electricity is the future of automobiles — and I wholeheartedly support that.
Notably, LaHood has been keen on big visions for years. “We’re talking about nothing short of transforming transportation much the same way the interstate highway system did under President Eisenhower,” he wrote on his official blog back in January 2011.