A Million Plug-in Cars by 2015? The President's Numbers Are a Stretch

President Obama wants to put a million plug-in cars on the road by 2015, which will be a tall order. Indiana University recently released a fairly skeptical report, concluding, "The production intentions of automakers are currently insufficient to meet the 2015 goal, and even the current plans for production volumes may not be met."

Obama was having none of that, of course. The Department of Energy fired back with a note of confidence, adding up those same "production intentions" quite differently. According to the DOE, the goal is in sight. But its chart shows numbers that even the auto companies aren't projecting, especially 120,000 Chevrolet Volts by 2012.