As the U.S. and China wrestle, President Joe Biden on Tuesday (May 18) emphasized the need to invest in electric vehicles during a visit to Ford Motor Co. in Michigan, and proposed $174 billion for an electric vehicle program. The White House has made Biden’s push for the U.S. electric vehicle industry a central effort to compete with the Chinese Communist Party.
Biden’s visit Tuesday was to Ford’s Rouge Electric Vehicle Center in Dearborn, Michigan, according to comprehensive media reports. Ford produces its new electric pickup truck, the F-150 Lightning, here, which will be officially unveiled Wednesday (19). Ford is using the F-150 Lightning as a turning point for electric vehicles, which are expected to go on sale in mid-2022.
Biden to Spend $174 Billion on Electric Vehicles
Biden will use the tour to promote his comprehensive infrastructure plan, known as the American Families Plan. The plan would allocate $174 billion to invest in electric vehicles. The White House says the money will “enable automakers to drive domestic supply chains from raw materials to components, retool factories to compete globally, and support American workers to build batteries and electric vehicles.
The Biden administration wants to encourage the creation of new battery production facilities, which are key to boosting U.S. electric vehicle manufacturing.
A fact sheet released by the White House says Biden’s plan proposes to create “cost-sharing grants” to support the establishment of new high-capacity battery production facilities in the United States and grants to fund the retooling of closed plants to “build advanced vehicles and components “
United Auto Workers President Rory Gamble, who has criticized Ford and GM’s plans to build some electric vehicles in Mexico, urged Biden to ensure that investments to promote electric vehicle production and sales include strong labor standards and that “taxpayer dollars should be used to support American-made vehicles, not imported ones “
At the heart of Biden’s electric vehicle plan is a $100 billion spending rebate, according to an April email from the U.S. Department of Transportation to lawmakers.
The White House fact sheet says Biden’s plan offers point-of-sale incentives to encourage electric vehicle deployment and would also incentivize manufacturers. The incentives would not apply to expensive luxury models.
Biden wants to invest $15 billion to build 500,000 electric vehicle charging stations by 2030 and $45 billion to electrify a large number of school buses and transit buses. He also wants to fund a shift in the federal fleet to more electric vehicles, including getting the Postal Service to start using electric delivery trucks.
U.S. and China vie for electric vehicle market
“He (Biden) has long argued that we should do everything from the U.S. government to support this industry that is the backbone of so many communities in our country, including Michigan.” White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters aboard Air Force One, “The future of this industry is electric, and everyone will tell you that. The president believes that the U.S. should occupy a larger percentage of the market than it currently does, and that China (the Chinese Communist Party) should not have a larger percentage of the market than the U.S.”
A White House fact sheet released shortly before the president departed for Michigan cited Biden’s overall push for electric vehicles as a central effort to compete with the Chinese Communist Party.
“Despite being a pioneer in the technology, the United States is lagging behind in the race to build these vehicles and batteries,” the White House fact sheet said.
“Today, the U.S. market share of plug-in electric vehicle sales is only one-third of the Chinese electric vehicle market.”
Republicans have warned against Biden’s electric vehicle plan, saying it risks making the U.S. more dependent on importing key materials from China to make car batteries.
U.S. electric car giant Tesla, which is building a factory in China, already plans to produce more than 150,000 Model 3 cars a year in Shanghai, China.
The Chinese Communist Party has been looking at electric vehicles as a breakthrough point to catch up with the Western auto industry, not only including them in the top 10 priority areas of its “Made in China 2025” plan, but also laying the groundwork for a monopoly on cobalt, a key material needed to power car batteries, by investing heavily in Africa.
China’s (Communist Party of China) State Council issued the New Energy Vehicle Industry Development Plan at the end of 2020, calling for a move from “a large auto country to a strong auto country” and “adhering to the strategic orientation of pure electric drive”. Through government incentives and subsidies, the government hopes that electric vehicles will account for one-fifth of all vehicle sales by 2025.
The Chinese Communist Party is also trying to monopolize cobalt. A Bloomberg article in late 2018 stated that eight of the 14 largest cobalt mines in Congo are owned by Chinese companies, accounting for nearly half of China’s production.
About 94 percent of Congo’s cobalt production is exported to Chinese smelters, according to Darton Commodities. The technology industry is accelerating the development of efficient and stable batteries without cobalt, and there has been some success, which will make the Chinese Communist Party’s possession of resources greatly reduced advantage.
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