The funds will be allocated by the Department of Energy from
the $1 trillion infrastructure bill US President Joe Biden signed last year.
Among the initiatives will be processing of minerals for use in large-capacity
batteries and recycling those batteries, the agency said in a statement.
Biden wants half of vehicles sold in the US to be electric
by 2030, a goal he hopes will boost unionized manufacturing jobs in key
election battleground states, thwart Chinese competition in a fast-growing
market, and reduce climate-changing carbon emissions.
The administration is also positioning the measures as a
step to secure energy independence and cut long-term inflation pressures
exacerbated by Russia's February 24 invasion of Ukraine.
"As we face this Putin price hike on oil and gas, it's
also important to note that electric vehicles will be cheaper over the
long-haul for American families," Mitch Landrieu, the White House
infrastructure coordinator, told reporters in a briefing, referring to Russian
President Vladimir Putin.
Ford Motor Co welcomed the announcement.
“This investment will strengthen our domestic battery supply
chain, create jobs, and help US manufacturers compete on the global stage,”
Steven Croley, Ford's general counsel, said in a statement. "We have a
moment of opportunity to own this technology here in the US, and investments
like the one announced today will help us get there.”
The latest funding will help establish and retrofit battery
factories. The infrastructure law also allocated billions more for the
government to purchase electric buses and install EV chargers. The
administration has been collaborating with manufacturers, including Tesla Chief
Executive Elon Musk, General Motors CEO Mary Barra and Ford CEO Jim Farley.
But the funds will not go toward developing new domestic
mines to produce the lithium, nickel, cobalt and other high-demand minerals
needed to make those batteries. Some of those projects face local opposition
and are tied up in Biden administration environmental and legal reviews.
"These resources are about battery supply chain, which
includes producing, recycling critical minerals without new extraction or
mining," said Gina McCarthy, Biden's national climate adviser. "So
that's why we're all pretty excited about this."
In March, Biden invoked the Cold War-era Defense Production
Act to support the production and processing of those minerals. He requested
funding to support that initiative last week as part of a $33 billion package
on Ukraine-related initiatives. © Reuters