WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden, a gearhead with his own vintage Corvette, will showcase his administration’s efforts to promote electric vehicles during a visit to the Detroit auto show.
The president, who recently took a spin in his pine-green 1967 Stingray with Jay Leno for a segment on CNBC’s “Jay Leno’s Garage,” may get the chance to slide behind the wheel of a new vehicle Wednesday during his stop in Detroit. He doesn’t get many chances anymore in the driver’s seat; he’s not allowed to drive on public roads as president.
But he’s mostly going to the North American International Auto Show to talk shop, plugging the huge new climate, tax and health care law that offers tax incentives for buying electric vehicles.
While Biden has been taking credit for the recent boom in electric vehicle battery and assembly plant announcements, most were in the works long before the Inflation Reduction Act was signed into law on Aug. 16. Biden’s 2021 infrastructure legislation could have something to do with it — it provides $5 billion over five years to help states create a network of EV charging stations.
Under the newest law, electric vehicles must be built in North America to be eligible for a new federal tax credit of up to $7,500. Batteries for qualifying vehicles also must be made in North America, and there are requirements for battery minerals to be produced or recycled on the continent. The credits are aimed at creating a U.S. electric vehicle supply chain and ending dependence on other countries, mainly China.
Passage of the measure set off a scramble by automakers to speed up efforts to find North American-made batteries and battery minerals from the U.S., Canada or Mexico to make sure EVs are eligible for the credit.
In April, Ford started building electric pickup trucks at a new Michigan factory. General Motors has revamped an old factory in Detroit to make electric Hummers and pickups.
Long before legislators reached a compromise on the legislation, each company announced three EV battery factories, all joint ventures with battery makers. A GM battery plant in Warren, Ohio, has already started manufacturing. A government loan announced in July will help GM build its battery factories.
Ford said last September it would build the next generation of electric pickups at a plant in Tennessee, and GM has announced EV assembly plants in Lansing, Michigan; Spring Hill, Tennessee; and Orion Township, Michigan. In May,…
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