The White House wants to make rebates for battery cars like the Chevy Volt and Nissan Leaf available at the time of purchase.

Despite near-record fuel prices, Americans have yet to make a significant switch from gasoline to electric propulsion, whether in the form of conventional hybrids or battery-electric vehicles.

So far this year, in fact, advanced electric vehicles, like the Nissan Leaf and Chevrolet Volt, have generated barely 2,000 sales, barely two days production of a vehicle like the big Ford F-150 pickup.

The Obama Administration hopes to switch on demand, however, by offering dealer-based incentives — much like the givebacks automakers routinely use to boost sales – rather than the current tax credit system that can take a buyer as much as a year to receive.

“We’d like for people to get a $7,500 rebate on the day they buy the Leaf,” said U.S. Transportation Sec. Ray LaHood, during a visit to the Nissan plant in Smyrna, Tennessee that is being retooled to start building the Nissan Leaf.

Traditional automotive incentives are provided up front so that buyers can use them to reduce their down-payments and monthly notes.  And by using the same approach for advanced battery vehicles, said LaHood, it would permit customers “to own a Leaf for what most average people can afford.”

The Leaf lists for more than $30,000, but after the federal tax credit, that price drops to around $25,000, closer to what the average American automobile will go for this year, according to industry data.  The vehicle – and other battery cars, like the Chevy Volt – may also qualify for state and even local incentives.  It is theoretically possible for a suburban California resident living in the right community and working for one of several movie studios offering battery car incentives to ultimately wind up paying as little as $12,000 for the Leaf.

But the current system means the customer must wait for much of that to come in the form of tax credits when next filing a return.  A buyer purchasing a qualifying vehicle in January 2011 might not see that money again until well into 2012.

LaHood said he is hoping that the shift in the battery-car incentive program will be included in one of the many tax bills being considered over the next 18 months.

The Administration and Capitol Hill battery-car proponents would also like to expand the number of battery cars that could qualify for a federal rebate – whatever the form.

That won’t matter for the moment, it appears.  The two big battery car previews of 2011 haven’t exactly charged up the market.  Both Leaf and Volt have so far generated barely 1,000 sales each, despite plenty of positive headlines and claims by the two makers that they had signed up thousands of so-called “hand-raisers.”

But that may not be as worrisome as it might initially appear.  Both General Motors and Nissan have taken a cautious approach to the initial roll-out of the Volt and Leaf to ensure they get the new technology right – and Nissan still faced an unexpected electrical problem with some early vehicles.

The Japanese natural disaster of March 11 also complicated matters, though Nissan is pushing to build up production levels in the coming weeks and soon hopes to have enough vehicles in its showrooms to meet the demand.  A story in Automotive News projects that sales of the Japanese battery-electric vehicle should reach 10,000 this year — though the maker initially projected a first-year figure closer to 20,000.

Nonetheless, Nissan believes demand will steadily grow and is putting in place the capacity – along with its French alliance partner Renault — to produce over 500,000 Leafs and other battery vehicles by mid-decade.

During his visit to the Nissan plant, Sec. LaHood said the White House also is committed to funding a nationwide expansion of public charging stations, something a senior executive with the Japanese maker agreed is critical in boosting acceptance of the technology among the American public.