US offers automakers $12bn to convert factories to EV production

Author: EIS Release Date: Sep 12, 2023

The US government is offering $12 billion in grants and loans for automakers and suppliers to retrofit their plants to produce EVs, said US Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm yesterday.

 

“While we transition to EVs, we want to ensure that workers can transition in place, that there is no worker, no community left behind,” said Granholm,

 

The United Auto Workers (UAW) union has warned that a rapid change could put thousands of jobs at risk in states such as Michigan, Ohio, Illinois and Indiana.

 

 

 

 

“Building a clean energy economy can and should provide a win-win opportunity for auto companies and unionised workers who have anchored the American economy for decades,” said President Joe Biden.

 

 

Projects that have better labor conditions will have a greater chance of receiving the funding.

 

The administration will also offer $3.5 billion in funding to domestic battery manufacturers, Granholm said.

 

For the advanced vehicles, $2 billion in grants will come from the Inflation Reduction Act which was passed by Democrats last year, and $10 billion in loans will derive from the Energy Department’s Loans Program Office