US pledges $17bn to convert legacy auto plants for EV
The US Department of Energy (DOE) has unveiled a subsidy package to help 11 shuttered or at-risk auto manufacturing and assembly plants convert to EV manufacturing.
It has made USD 1.7 billion available across eight states: Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, and Virginia. The scheme is part of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda to create and retain thousands of jobs in the American auto sector.
The aim is to help old car plants to manufacture products covering a broad range of the automotive supply chain, including parts for electric motorcycles and school buses, hybrid powertrains, heavy-duty commercial truck batteries, and electric SUVs.
DOE says the selected projects could create over 2,900 new high-quality jobs and help ensure more 15,000 highly skilled union workers are retained across all eleven facilities.
“There is nothing harder to a manufacturing community than to lose jobs to foreign competition and a changing industry,” said US Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm in an official announcement. “Even as our competitors invest heavily in electric vehicles, these grants ensure that our automotive industry stays competitive—and does it in the communities and with the workforce that have supported the auto industry for generations.”
The funding for the Domestic Auto Manufacturing Conversion Grants will be administered by DOE’s Office of Manufacturing and Energy Supply Chains (MESC).
