John Curley celebrates the lack of electric vehicles on the roads

Four years ago, President Obama called for 1 million electric vehicles to be on the road by 2015 to reduce carbon emissions. Too bad for the President car dealers don’t want to sell them.

The New York Times reports about 330,000 electric vehicles are on the road today.

Car dealers are showing “little enthusiasm” for selling the more environmentally-friendly vehicles, the Times reports.

Related: Seattle’s parking problems will spill from its borders

“Gas is getting a little cheaper, so it’s no longer the number one driver for people interested in electric cars,” KIRO Radio’s Tom Tangney said.

Though there is a customer base for electric cars, the fact that dealers are skeptics of the vehicles makes it a difficult sell. Selling electric vehicles can also take more time, Tom explained.

And let’s not forget that dealers make less money on electric vehicles. There’s less required maintenance, thus less money being handed over, Tom said.

A survey done by Consumer Reports revealed that some dealers went so far as to steer consumers toward gas-powered vehicles. In addition to salespeople not being very knowledgeable about electric vehicles, some were also uneducated about tax incentives owners receive.

Consumer Reports found that salespeople at some dealerships were less knowledgeable than others, too.

In addition to that, fewer people are citing fuel efficiency as the most important factor in buying a car, Tom added.

Though less electric vehicles on the road means more emissions, there is at least one benefit: more parking for everyone. KIRO Radio’s John Curley doesn’t seem phased by the news.

“There were no parking spots at a physician’s office in Issaquah,” KIRO Radio’s John Curley said. “So I pulled up and parked in an electric-only spot. Those are always open because nobody buys electric cars.

So just exactly what did Curley do to make people think the vehicle he was driving was electric? He simply placed the plug under the vehicle’s hood.

It’s unlikely enough electric vehicles will be sold between now and the end of the year to meet Obama’s hopes for greener roads. So what does this mean for other emerging technology?

The Associated Press reports the U.S. Department of Transportation is starting to loosen up a little on self-driving vehicles. It was only two years ago when the department said those vehicles should be limited to testing.

This week, transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said he doesn’t want the agency to be “skittish” about innovations.

“They don’t want to be in the way of technological innovations,” Tom said. “They want to encourage it. This could be a big advance and a real possibility.”

Basically, what they’re saying is they want to get out of the way, Curley said.

“Diminishing their role. Good,” Curley added.

But is Curley excited about self-driving vehicles, or is he just looking forward to more unused, restricted parking he can use whenever he wants.