HOUSTON — A senior Energy Department official said EV manufacturers’ recent price cuts will speed conversion of fleets away from gas-powered vehicles, Ben writes.

Driving the news: “The price drops and Tesla and Chevy and others have announced have made the conversion of fleets far more likely, which is very important to us, because a lot of these fleet folks are the ones driving 25,000 miles a year,” Jigar Shah, head of the loan programs office, said at CERAWeek.

Why it matters: Conversion to EVs among corporations and various levels of government is a key early market for vehicles with plugs, and Shah noted fleet vehicles’ heavy use is important for cutting emissions.

Elsewhere on our EV radar…

🚗 “Mitsubishi Motors Corp plans for hybrid and battery electric vehicles to account for all new car sales by the middle of the next decade,” Reuters reports.

⏸️ “Vietnam’s automaker VinFast on Friday said it will push back its plan to start operations of its electric vehicles factory in the United States until 2025, citing a procedural delay,” CNBC reports.