We at The Optimist Daily are enormous electric vehicle fans, and we’re not the only ones. Demand for electric vehicles has risen so sharply around the world that manufacturers and supply chains are struggling to keep up.
To help things along, state and federal governments are stepping up to offer funding to increase production. The Biden Administration recently announced a plan to make $3.16 billion available to stimulate the production of batteries for electric vehicles in the United States.
Federal funding for EV batteries
Funding will be available in the form of grants meant to encourage the innovation of more high-capacity batteries and sourcing the raw materials to make them. The grant funding comes from last year’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and will help awarded US companies make and modify factories to facilitate the manufacturing of batteries and parts. Another $60 million will also go toward battery reuse and recycling innovation.
“With the demand for electric vehicles (EVs) and stationary storage alone projected to increase the size of the lithium battery market five- to ten-fold by the end of the decade, it is essential that the United States invests in the capacity to accelerate the development of a resilient supply chain for high-capacity batteries,” said the U.S. Department of Energy.
Electrifying the roads
The administration aims to have half of all US new vehicle sales be electric by 2030 and has also issued guidelines for all new cars and trucks bought by the federal government to be emissions-free by 2035. However, sourcing raw materials, like lithium and cobalt, needed for battery production is problematic with most materials coming from overseas and supply chain issue shortages. Measures with the new plan to domestically source and produce these materials will help in securing US independence and self-reliance in e-technology and renewable energy.
“With today’s announcement, over $3 billion, we will ensure that the United States is not just the world leader in making batteries, but in innovating the advanced battery technologies that we need in the future and securing the supply chain so we can be less vulnerable to global supply disruptions and making this industry sustainable by recycling materials and using cleaner manufacturing processes,” said White House climate adviser Gina McCarthy, as The Hill reported.
