Biden administration pledges $900M grant money to fund EV charging infrastructure

US president, Biden was in Detroit Michigan for the North American International Auto Show where he confirmed the approval of $900M grant money that will go toward building about 500,000 charging stations across multiple states.

The money is just the first batch of $5 billion that the government will be setting aside as it looks to build electric vehicle chargers across 53,000 miles of the national highway system and 35 states.

“The great American road trip is going to be fully electrified. Whether you're driving coast to coast along I-10, or on I-75 here in Michigan, charging stations will be up and as easy to find as gas stations are now," the president said amid cheers from the people present at the event.

Mr Biden is currently touring different states in the country to publicise the new climate, tax and health care law that will among other things offer tax incentives to people buying electric vehicles.

Under this new law, EV buyers will be eligible for up to $7,500 federal tax credit under the condition that the electric vehicles were built in North America. The batteries for eligible vehicles must also have been manufactured in North America and there are conditions for the battery minerals to be produced or recycled in the continent.

This new law is part of the US government’s efforts to grow EV manufacturing in the country and reduce America’s dependence on other countries such as China. And it seems to be working as evident from the ensuing scramble of North-American-made batteries and battery minerals from the US, Canada and Mexico.

US automakers have also stepped up production. Early this year, Ford commenced the manufacturing of electric pickup trucks at their new Michigan Factory while General Motors modernised an old factory in Detroit for use in building electric hummers and trucks.

Both companies had also announced that they would be building 3 EV batteries each even before the legislation was passed. A GM battery plan in Ohio is already operational.

Hyundai is also in the process of establishing battery and assembly plants in Georgia while Vietnamese automaker VinFast said they would be building plants in North Carolina.

Honda and Toyota also announced plans for US battery plants after the legislation was passed.