The Biden Administration will supply $12 billion in grants to retool car factories for electric vehicle production, according to an announcement by Energy Department officials on Thursday, August 31.
The department has yet to announce where the funds will be directed, although a spokesperson did say that facilities offering higher-quality labor conditions would take priority over others. According to Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, the initiative is aimed at protecting local communities that depend on ICE car factories for jobs. “While we transition to EVs, we want to ensure that workers can transition in place, that there is no worker, no community left behind,” she commented. Plant closures have become an increasing concern for car manufacturer employees. Although OEMs have launched projects to convert some facilities into electric vehicle production lines, the futures of many sites are unclear. Since most U.S. automakers plan to end production of diesel and gas cars within the next 15 years, these plants could become obsolete without EV-related upgrades.
The United Auto Workers (UAW) union has frequently clashed with automakers over the electric vehicle transition. Organization president Shawn Fain has vowed to keep car factories open, such as the Jeep Cherokee plant in Illinois. Stellantis, which has born the brunt of the UAW’s criticisms, plans to end Cherokee production in the coming months and has yet to announce any future plans for the facility. Fain praised the Biden Administration for launching the initiative soon after the Energy Department’s announcement, noting that the move “makes clear to employers that the EV transition must include strong union partnerships with the high pay and safety standards that generations of UAW members have fought for and won.”
