Joe Biden's administration to spend $3 billion on EV battery manufacturing in US

The Biden administration will allocate more than $3 billion in infrastructure funding to finance electric vehicle (EV) battery manufacturing, officials informed Reuters. The funds will be allocated by the Department of Energy from the $1 trillion infrastructure bill President Joe Biden signed last year. The initiatives will also include processing of minerals for use in large-capacity batteries and recycling those batteries.

Through the latest funding, the US government will help establish and retrofit battery factories. The infrastructure law has also allocated billions more for the government to purchase electric buses and install EV chargers. For this, the Biden administration has been collaborating with manufacturers such as Tesla, General Motors and Ford.

The US government is aiming for half of vehicles sold in the US to be electric by 2030, a goal that President Joe Biden hopes will boost unionized manufacturing jobs in key election battleground states while thwarting Chinese competition in a fast-growing market, besides reducing climate-changing carbon emissions.

The initiative to build a battery manufacturing infrastructure will also help secure energy independence and cut long-term inflation pressures exacerbated by Russia's invasion of Ukraine. "As we face this Putin price hike on oil and gas, it's also important to note that electric vehicles will be cheaper over the long-haul for American families," Mitch Landrieu, the White House infrastructure coordinator, said.

Ford Motor welcomed the announcement saying that the investment will strengthen domestic battery supply chain, create jobs, and help US manufacturers compete on the global stage. “We have a moment of opportunity to own this technology here in the US, and investments like the one announced today will help us get there," said Steven Croley, Ford's general counsel.

(with inputs from Reuters)