During the presidential campaign, Barack Obama promised that "within one year of becoming president, the entire White House fleet will be converted to plug-ins as security permits." In late 2009 -- about 11 months into his presidency and one month before his self-imposed deadline -- we rated the promise In the Works, based on White House assurances that an ongoing update of the automotive fleet was being done in an environmentally sensitive fashion.

The White House says that installation of the electrical infrastructure to make this happen is under way as part of a major utility upgrade at the White House. "Electrical infrastructure for vehicle charging stations for government owned plug-in hybrid and electric vehicles is in the process of being installed on the White House campus," said White House spokeswoman Katherine Bedingfield.

Still, when it made this promise, the White House set a specific timetable, even though the state of the technology and the commercial market -- not to mention the special security requirements of carrying the president and foreign leaders -- all but guaranteed that it would be a nonstarter from the moment Obama made the promise.

As we noted last time, plug-ins are a work in progress. They are cars that can be charged using ordinary household electricity and that operate without gasoline, though they may have a gasoline engine as a backup. Since our last update, the plug-in market has grown significantly. Already, two major-company offerings are available, at least in limited markets -- the Chevy Volt and the Nissan LEAF. Others are slated to be available beginning in 2011. 

While the White House may eventually be able to achieve its goal of converting the White House fleet to plug-ins that use the infrastructure now being installed, this is one of a handful of promises that came with a specified time limit -- and the White House did not meet that deadline, which came and went almost a year ago. So we're calling it a Promise Broken.