 |
| Photo Credit: AP. |
DETROIT (AP) — President Joe Biden, a “car guy” with his own vintage Corvette, showcased his administration’s efforts to promote electric vehicles during a visit Wednesday to the Detroit auto show.
Biden
traveled to the massive North American International Auto Show to plug the huge
new climate, tax and health care law that offers tax incentives for buying
electric vehicles. He toured a mix of American-manufactured hybrid, electric
and combustion vehicles from Chevrolet, General Motors, Ford and Stellantis on
a closed-off convention center floor, and greeted union workers, CEOs and local
leaders.
“You all
know I’m a car guy,” Biden told a roaring crowd of autoworkers, adding that
cars “just give me a sense of optimism — although I like the speed too.”
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.
In Detroit,
Biden announced approval of the first $900 million in infrastructure money to
build EV chargers across 53,000 miles of the national highway system in 35
states.
“The great American road trip is going to be
fully electrified,” Biden said.
He also
highlighted the law’s funding supporting infrastructure projects in Detroit and
across Michigan.
“When you
see these big projects in your home towns,” Biden said, “I want you to feel the
way I feel: Pride. Pride in what we can do when we do it together.”
The
president credited the United Auto Workers and other unions with supporting him
in his 2020 bid for the White House. He highlighted how his administration has
worked to promote union contracts for big projects, calling union workers the
“most skilled” in the nation.
“The middle
class built America, and unions built the middle class,” Biden said.
He made time
for party politics, too. He praised Michigan Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer,
who is up for reelection in November, calling her “a great governor” who has
utilized federal resources for her state to the fullest. Biden also
participated in a Michigan Democratic Party fundraiser on behalf of her
reelection campaign.
During a
tour of the convention center floor, the Democratic 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,” hopped into the driver seat of a bright orange
Chevrolet Corvette Z06 — which starts at $106,000 and is not an EV —and fired
up its engine, alongside GM CEO Mary Barra.
“He says
he’s driving home,” she joked.
Biden then
toured the new electric Ford Mustang Mach-E, marveling with Ford executive
chairman Bill Ford at the model’s performance. “It’s amazing the speed,” Biden
said, adding, “Does it have a launch button?” He also explored less-flashy
vehicles, like Ford’s all-electric E-Transit van and F-150 truck.
Biden
finally got behind the wheel of a Cadillac Lyriq all electric SUV, which starts
at $63,000, briefly driving it down an aisle in the blue-carpeted hall. It
marked a rare occasion to drive — albeit at little more than a walking pace —
for the president, who typically is transported in armored U.S. Secret Service
vehicles when out in public.
“Jump in,
I’ll give you a ride to Washington,” he joked to reporters. “It’s a beautiful
car,” he said, “but I love the Corvette.”
Under the
new law, electric vehicles must be built in North America to be eligible for a
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 older 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,
Stellantis, formerly Fiat Chrysler, said it would build another joint venture
battery factory in Indiana, and it has announced a battery plant in Canada.
Hyundai
announced battery and assembly plants in May to be built in Georgia, and
Vietnamese automaker VinFast announced factories in North Carolina in July.
Honda and Toyota both announced U.S. battery plants after the act was passed,
but they had been planned for months.
Biden has
been talking for a long time about the importance of building a domestic EV
supply chain, and that may have prodded some of the companies to locate
factories in the U.S. But it’s also advantageous to build batteries near where
EVs will be assembled because the batteries are heavy and costly to ship from
overseas.
And auto
companies are rolling out more affordable electric options despite battery
costs. The latest came last week from General Motors, a Chevrolet Equinox small
SUV. It has a starting price around $30,000 and a range-per-charge of 250
miles, or 400 kilometers. Buyers can get a range of 300 miles, or 500
kilometers, if they pay more.
The Equinox
checks the North American assembly box. It will be made in Mexico. The company
won’t say where the battery will be made but it is working on meeting the other
criteria for getting the tax credit.
It will take
more than government money to build enough charging stations to ease the
public’s anxiety over running out of juice with an electric vehicle, said
Christian Meunier, CEO of Stellantis’ Jeep brand. But the money Biden announced
should bring more private investment, he said.
“There is
momentum building. There will be a business case for private companies to invest
more,” Meunier said on the floor of the auto show. “It’s going to exponentially
grow.”
Krisher
reported from Detroit. AP writer Zeke Miller in Washington contributed.