As part of an ongoing effort to lessen China’s global dominance in battery production for EVs and other electronics, the Biden administration is giving over $3 billion to American companies to increase domestic production of advanced batteries and other materials used for EVs.
The grants will fund a total of 25 projects in 14 states, including battleground states like Michigan and North Carolina as well as Ohio, Texas, South Carolina, and Louisiana.
The money for EV batteries under the bipartisan infrastructure law approved in 2021 is being provided in a second phase through the grants announced on Friday.
$1.8 billion was given to 14 ongoing projects in a previous round of funding. The totals represent some projects dropped or rejected by U.S. officials during sometimes protracted discussions, and they are lower than the sums officials stated in October 2022.
The funding is part of a bigger initiative by Vice President Kamala Harris and President Joe Biden to increase the manufacturing and sales of electric cars as a crucial component of their plan to halt global warming and strengthen American manufacturing.
Recipient companies either make components utilized in EV batteries or process materials such as graphite, lithium, or other battery materials.
“The administration’s goal of creating an end-to-end supply chain for batteries and critical minerals here in America, from mining to processing to manufacturing and recycling, is vital to reduce China’s dominance of this critical sector, and today’s awards move us closer to that goal,” stated Lael Brainard, White House economic adviser.
During a Thursday White House call with reporters, Brainard stated that the Biden-Harris administration is “committed to making batteries in the United States that are going to be vital for powering our grid, our homes and businesses, and America’s iconic auto industry.”
In addition to major lithium mines in Nevada and North Carolina, battery factories in Michigan and Ohio, and the production of rare earth elements and magnets in California and Texas, Brainard noted that the awards announced on Friday bring the total amount of U.S. investments to support domestic critical minerals and battery supply chains to almost $35 billion.
“We’re using every tool at our disposal, from grants and loans to allocated tax credits,” the spokesperson stated, noting that since Biden assumed office, the administration’s strategy has attracted over $100 billion in investment from the private sector.
China has controlled the market for processing and refining vital minerals like gallium, rare earth elements, and lithium in recent years.
Laptops 1000It has also taken the lead in battery manufacture, making the United States and its allies and partners “vulnerable,” according to Brainard.
In response, what she described as “tough, targeted measures to enforce against unfair actions by China” had been taken by the U.S.
Higher duties on Chinese imports of vital minerals, such as graphite used in EV and grid-storage batteries, were finalized by officials last week.
In addition, the administration has implemented limitations on goods from China and other opponents that the US has designated as foreign corporations of concern, as well as taken action under the 2022 climate law to encourage local sourcing for EVs sold in the US.
“Making batteries in the United States of America is our commitment,” stated Jennifer Granholm, the Secretary of Energy.
According to officials, grants announced on Friday, if approved, will fund 25 projects that will create over 4,000 permanent jobs in addition to 8,000 construction jobs.
According to the Energy Department, businesses must commit at least $50 million and match grants 50/50.
Federal funding may not be necessary for all projects, but according to Matthew McDowell, an associate professor of engineering at Georgia Institute of Technology, the infrastructure and climate laws have significantly changed the U.S. battery manufacturing industry in recent years.
Solid-state batteries, which may be able to store more energy than lithium-ion batteries, are among the next generation of renewable energy storage batteries that McDowell is enthusiastic about.
