In order to support the creation of electric vehicles, the Biden administration is giving $1.7 billion to car assembly and manufacturing plants spread across eight states.
Eleven “shuttered or at-risk” facilities in the states of Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, and Virginia will get the funds. According to the announcement, the investments are meant to support the creation and maintenance of well-paying union employment at the sites.
“There is nothing harder to a manufacturing community than to lose jobs to foreign competition and a changing industry,” U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm stated. “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 projects that were chosen would supposedly guarantee the retention of 15,000 union workers at all the facilities and generate over 2,900 new employment. The monies for the awards originate from the Inflation Reduction Act, according to the White House.
Two Michigan-based facilities are among the awardees. A ZF plant in Marysville will receive slightly more than $150,000 for e-mobility conversion, while a General Motors plant in Lansing would receive $500 million to transition to the production of electric vehicles.
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American Autoparts, Inc., a division of Hyundai Mobis Co., will get a $32.6 million grant to establish a new battery system assembly factory and adapt the current Ohio site to construct electric car chassis.
With funding from a $334.7 million grant, the abandoned Belvidere Assembly Plant in Illinois will be transformed into an electric car assembly facility. Additionally, Blue Bird Body Company in Georgia would receive $79.7 million to construct electric buses.
According to the release, the facilities that were chosen for this funding will engage in negotiations before receiving the awards.
This will enable them to produce a range of goods for the automotive supply chain, such as parts for electric vehicles such as motorcycles and school buses, hybrid powertrains, heavy-duty commercial truck batteries, and electric SUVs.
