Securing America's Future Energy

SAFE Encouraged by Waymo’s Plan for Electric, Self-Driving Future

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Bridget Bartol | 202.461.2361 | bbartol@secureenergy.org

Washington, D.C.—In response today’s announcement by Waymo that it will partner with Jaguar to deploy up to 20,000 electric, self-driving vehicles in its fleet beginning in 2020, Securing America’s Future Energy’s (SAFE) President and CEO Robbie Diamond released the following statement:

“Today’s announcement from a leading autonomous vehicle developer reinforces what we have long understood—that electric and autonomous technologies catalyze one another, and early commercial autonomous vehicle deployments will be in shared, electric vehicles. Our analysis has shown that 54 percent of AV models permitted under California’s AV law are plug-in vehicles and 33 percent are hybrid. This technology has tremendous potential to improve roadway safety, improve the accessibility while lowering the cost of transportation and, as this announcement further demonstrates, severing our oil dependence by advancing electric transportation.”

By inducing greater vehicle fleet efficiency and precipitating a shift away from oil as the dominant transportation fuel, which currently powers 92 percent of the U.S. transportation network, the United States can mitigate its exposure to the volatile global oil market. To reduce our oil dependence, SAFE advocates for increased domestic production, improved fuel efficiency and greater fuel choice.

 

About Securing America’s Future Energy

Securing America’s Future Energy (SAFE) is an action-oriented, nonpartisan organization that aims to reduce America’s dependence on oil. Near-total dependence on petroleum in the transportation sector undermines the nation’s economic and national security, and constrains U.S. foreign policy. To combat these threats, SAFE advocates for expanded domestic production of U.S. oil and gas resources, continued improvements in vehicle fuel efficiency, and transportation sector innovations including electric vehicles, natural gas trucks, and autonomous vehicles. In 2006, SAFE joined with General P.X. Kelley (Ret.), 28th Commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps, and Frederick W. Smith, Chairman, President, and CEO of FedEx Corporation, to form the Energy Security Leadership Council (ESLC), a group of business and former military leaders committed to reducing the United States’ dependence on oil. Today, the ESLC is co-chaired by Frederick W. Smith and General James T. Conway (Ret), 34th Commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps.

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