Biden announces $3,000 billion investment to make lithium-ion batteries

Electric vehicles are currently the target of many car companies as well as governments around the world. In the US, President Biden has earmarked a significant amount of money for the production of lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles, as part of his bipartisan Infrastructure Act.

President Joe Biden is building on his electric vehicle goal with a $3,000 billion new investment to increase the supply of lithium-ion batteries to the US through .

What is the purpose of this investment?

The move is aimed at combating climate change, as well as making the US more energy independent and secure, officials say, as Russia's invasion of Ukraine disrupted global oil markets.

“In order to make electric vehicles work, we also need to increase the production of lithium-ion batteries, and we need responsible and sustainable domestic sources of the critical materials used to make lithium-ion batteries, such as lithium, cobalt, nickel and graphite,” he said. Mitch Landrieu, implementation coordinator and senior adviser to Biden.

Infrastructure law will allocate more money to the goals

Landrieux added, “The bipartisan Infrastructure Act allocates more than $7 billion to strengthen the US battery supply chain, which will help us avoid disruption, lower costs, and accelerate US battery production to meet this demand. So today, the Department of Energy is announcing $3.16 billion to support battery manufacturing, processing, and recycling, funded by the bipartisan Infrastructure Act.”

Investments will also be directed to the purchase of electric chargers and vehicles.

Biden previously set a goal of electric vehicles accounting for more than half of all car sales by 2030. The infrastructure bill also includes $7,500 billion for electric vehicle chargers, $5,000 billion for electric buses, and $5,000 billion for green electric school buses.

According to National Economic Council director Brian Deese, the funding will help protect the battery supply chain and boost capacity, as well as improve competition in the US. light during the war in Ukraine over the past two months.

“Even in the last few days, we have seen [President Vladimir] Putin try to use Russia's energy supplies as a weapon against other countries. And it highlights why it's so important that we in the United States reinvest and re-sign on our own energy security, and building a robust end-to-end supply chain for batteries and electric vehicle storage and manufacturing is one of the important things we can do to ensure long-term energy security. security, which should ultimately include the security of clean energy sources,” Dees said.

Recycling is part of this energy supply strategy in the country.

$3,000 billion will be spent on the production and processing of critical minerals without new mining or finding materials for domestic production.

“We will ensure that the United States becomes a global leader not only in battery manufacturing, but also in developing the advanced battery technologies we will need in the future, in protecting the supply chain so that we can be less vulnerable to global supply disruptions. and in building this sustainable industry by recycling materials and using cleaner manufacturing processes,” said climate advisor Gina McCarthy.

Funds will be distributed through federal grants, officials said, and officials expect to fund up to 30 grants after technical and business reviews and evaluations.

**********

: