Obama Visit Juices Up SoCal Electric Vehicle Plant

By JOHN ROGERS

POMONA, Calif. (AP) — Whether President Barack Obama's California visit rallied sufficient support for his economic stimulus package remains to be seen, but his arrival Thursday definitely juiced the spirits of those who have toiled for years here building, testing and maintaining the kind of electric-powered cars Obama says are the nation's future.

In the 16 years since it opened, Southern California Edison's Electric Vehicle Technical Center has quietly logged a number of firsts. Among them, first consumer field test of General Motors' pioneering EV1 electric vehicle and first conversion of a heavy-duty, gasoline-powered boom truck to gas-electric hybrid.

Edison itself maintains a fleet of more than 300 electric and gas-electric hybrid vehicles that it says has logged more than 17 million miles.

But at a company whose name often lands in the news only after a power blackout, there was some concern over whether anybody was paying attention.

"We've been at times feeling maybe a little lonely out there with our support for electric transportation," Edison International Chairman Ted Craver Jr. said after showing Obama around the plant. "To have this recognition, this exposure of electric transportation and what we have been able to accomplish is just a real thrill for the company."