The United States is prepared to hand out $12 billion in grants and loans for OEMs that wish to retool currently-built production facilities in preparation for electric vehicle production.
Energy Secretary for the Biden Administration Jennifer Granholm said $10 billion will come from the Energy Department’s Loans Program Office, while $2 billion will come from the Inflation Reduction Act, which has helped encourage a faster transition to EVs.
It will also offer $3.5 billion in funding to domestic battery manufacturers, a press release from the Biden-Harris Administration said.
“President Biden is investing in the workforce and factories that made our country a global manufacturing powerhouse,” Granholm said. “Today’s announcements show that President Biden understands that building the cars of the future also necessitates helping the communities challenged by the transition away from the internal combustion engine.”
Reuters suggests in its report that the grants and subsidies could help the White House curb criticism from the UAW over environmental rules that were recently proposed to help bring in EVs.
The UAW has opposed the push as it warned the Biden administration that it could cost thousands of jobs in areas where vehicle manufacturing is especially prevalent. This includes Michigan, Ohio, Illinois, and Indiana.
Today’s plans to inject billions into the automotive sector were made possible by the Biden administration’s “Investing in America” agenda. The plan aims to invest “$500 billion in private sector manufacturing and clean energy investments in the United States, creating good-paying jobs and supporting collective bargaining, and building a clean-energy economy that will combat the climate crisis and make our communities more resilient,” the White House said.
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