Biden Offers $15.5 Billion to Automakers To Help Get Electric Vehicle Production Rolling
The transition to electric vehicles is happening fast. Faster than automotive brands can keep up. Production facilities must be converted from producing gas-powered cars to electric ones since the methods are vastly different. Automotive workers must also be trained to keep up with the new technology.
California recently announced that all new cars sold in 2035 and beyond must be zero-emission vehicles. And while this sounds great for the environment, the reality is that automakers will have a tough time meeting that demand in just 12 years.
Grants and Loans to Automakers and Suppliers Will Assist Transition to EV Production
Automotive brands are worried they won’t be able to keep up with the demand for EVs, and the Department of Energy announced a $15.5 billion solution that would supply grants and loans to automakers and suppliers. This assistance would allow these companies to abide by the environmental laws being pushed in places like California.
There is also a worry that this quick transition from gas to electric cars will put thousands of people in the automotive industry out of work, especially in Michigan, Ohio, Illinois, and Indiana. This financial assistance will allow car brands to train their employees so that they won’t become irrelevant and allows employers to fairly pay these workers through this training transition.
United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain said this announcement “makes clear to employers that the EV transition must include strong union partnerships with the high pay and safety standards that generations of UAW members have fought for and won.”
The New Demand for Electric Vehicles
With the government pushing strongly for EV production and sales, it’s hard not to wonder if there is a market demand for electric cars or if this push will produce an excess of EVs that no one wants to buy. According to Cox Automotive, 51% of consumers are seriously considering the purchase of an electric vehicle, which is a record high. They also predict that over 1 million EVs will be sold in 2023, more than twice what was sold in 2021.
Research journalist, Freelance writer, Managing Editor
- Expertise: automotive content, trending topics.
- Education: LeTourneau University, Bachelors of Science in Business Administration.
- Over 400 articles and short news pieces published across the web.
Experience: Madison Cates is a journalist located in the great state of Texas. She began writing over eight years ago. Her first major research piece was published by the Journal of Business and Economics in 2018. After growing up in a household of eight brothers and a dad who was always restoring old Camaros, she naturally pivoted her freelance career into the automotive industry. There, she found her passion.
Her experience paved the way for her to work with multiple large corporations in automotive news and trending topics. Now, she now finds her home at Wealth of Geeks where she proudly serves as Managing Editor of Autos. Madison is always down to geek out over the latest beautiful cars on the market, and she enjoys providing her readers with tips to make car ownership easier and more enjoyable.