Through a statement, the Biden administration announced this plan by the Department of Energy (DOE), which aims to retool existing factories for the transition to electric vehicle (EV) manufacturing.
This plan also seeks to promote job creation in the electric mobility sector.
“The DOE funds will modernize existing automobile manufacturing facilities across the country, expand and retain well-paying jobs in automobile manufacturing, and strengthen national supply chains,” the statement reads.
Specifically, companies will have access to $2 billion in grants and up to $10 billion in loans to support conversion projects that retain high-quality jobs in communities currently hosting vehicle manufacturing facilities.
To receive these grants, companies will be scored, with higher scores awarded to those with projects that maintain collective bargaining agreements and high-wage workers, the White House noted, just a few days before the country celebrates Labor Day.
Similarly, the plan will make available $3.5 billion in funds to expand domestic manufacturing of electric vehicle batteries and the national network, as well as materials and components for batteries currently imported from other countries.
This plan adds to the Biden administration’s efforts to encourage the transition to less polluting vehicles and is in line with its goal that by 2032, 67% of cars and 46% of vans sold in the country will be electric.
In April, the Biden administration announced new measures to reduce emissions from transportation, including new rules that will make it more challenging to produce gasoline vehicles and promote the sale of electric cars, one of the president’s major initiatives to combat the climate crisis.
In August 2021, Biden already announced measures for 50% of all vehicles (including cars, SUVs, vans, and trucks) sold in the United States to be electric by 2023. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), electric vehicle sales have tripled, and the number of available models has doubled since Biden took office in January 2021.
Additionally, there are now more than 130,000 public electric chargers on American roads, a 40% increase from 2020.
