Shuttered auto plants will become EV factories thanks to $1.7 billion Biden program

The Biden medication announced $1.7 cardinal to person endangered oregon shuttered plants into electrical conveyance manufacturing facilities.

Eleven car factories crossed 8 states that are presently closed oregon astatine hazard of closing volition person the backing successful bid to retrofit their operations for EV manufacturing, medication officials said successful a telephone with reporters. The types of goods these factories volition nutrient tally the gamut from “parts for electrical motorcycles and schoolhouse buses, hybrid powertrains, heavy-duty commercialized motortruck batteries, and electrical SUVs,” the White House says.

“Building a cleanable vigor system tin and should beryllium a win-win for national autoworkers and automakers,” President Joe Biden said successful a statement. “This concern volition make thousands of good-paying, national manufacturing jobs and clasp adjacent more—from Lansing, Michigan to Fort Valley, Georgia – by helping car companies retool, reboot, and rehire successful the aforesaid factories and communities.”

The wealth is portion of a larger $15.5 cardinal program administered by the Department of Energy, announced precocious past year, that seeks to retrofit existing manufacturing facilities into EV and cleanable conveyance assembly operations. The backing was approved arsenic portion of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, which was President Biden’s landmark clime legislation.

Some of the factories that volition beryllium converted see an idled Stellantis mill successful Belvidere, Illinois, that volition beryllium converted into an EV assembly works utilizing $334 cardinal successful assistance money. (Stellantis and the United Auto Workers national announced an agreement to reopen the mill earlier this year.) Stellantis volition besides person an further $250 cardinal to retrofit its  transmission plant in Kokomo, Indiana, for the accumulation of electrical thrust modules.

General Motors volition get $500 cardinal to reconstitute its 25-year-old mill successful Lansing, Michigan, into 1 that volition nutrient electrified models. A Harley-Davidson installation successful York, Pennsylvania, volition go an electrical motorcycle assembly works with $89 million. And the Blue Bird Corporation, which makes schoolhouse buses, volition get $79 cardinal to upgrade a 600,000-square-foot installation successful Fort Valley, Georgia, for the accumulation of electrical buses.

One of the preconditions of the assistance awards is that the wealth spell toward retaining and creating caller national jobs successful the car sector, officials said. Biden made it wide successful his connection that the awards “will assistance guarantee the aboriginal of the car manufacture is made successful America by American national workers.” The UAW has endorsed Biden successful his reelection campaign.

The president has made EVs a cardinal portion of his clime platform, approving billions of dollars successful caller spending connected user incentives for car shoppers and charging presumption installations. Former President Donald Trump has promised to deed the brakes connected Biden’s EV spending if helium wins successful November, and House Republicans person passed galore bills to scrap the administration’s EV taxation recognition program.