WASHINGTON — U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly, R-3rd, is sponsoring legislation that would repeal the $7,500 tax credit for plug-in electric drive vehicles.

Kelly of Butler said there is little demand for electric cars, which include the Chevrolet Volt.

“The bottom line is, while our nation borrows 42 cents on every dollar, taxpayers are paying for an electric vehicle tax credit that has cost tens of millions of dollars, and that largely benefits upper-income Americans,” Kelly said in a statement.

He owns Mike Kelly Auto in Penn Township, which sells Chevrolet, Cadillac, Hyundai and Kia.

The Volt, which Kelly has criticized in the past, is part of President Barack Obama’s green technology initiative, which started in 2009 and was supposed to increase the use of green technology and create 2 million jobs.

Anyone who buys the Volt or certain other electric cars gets a $7,500 federal subsidy as well as $3,500 from the state.

The Volt runs on battery power with a gasoline engine backup. It gets 40 mpg and costs about $40,000.

His dealership had a single 2011 silver Chevy Volt that never sold, and the dealership opted not to carry any other Volts.

Kelly considers the subsidy program a failure.

“After measuring the cost benefits of this subsidy several times over, it would be a waste of taxpayer dollars to continue this tax credit, and I will work to ensure that it’s repealed,” Kelly said.