Department of Energy will fund retrofitting and repurposing of existing car factories and bolster domestic battery supply chains.
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has unveiled a $15.5 billion funding and loan package to strengthen the domestic electric vehicle value chain as part of President Joe Biden’s Investing in America agenda. The package primarily focuses on repurposing existing factories to shift to electric vehicles (EVs) and aims to bolster U.S. battery manufacturing.
The package includes $2 billion in grants and $10 billion in loans for automotive manufacturing conversion projects, including transforming or retrofitting existing plants and hiring a skilled workforce. Additionally, the DOE plans to provide $3.5 billion for domestic battery manufacturing to bolster the clean energy sector while creating additional jobs.
U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm praised President Biden’s commitment to investing in “the workforce and factories that made our country a global manufacturing powerhouse.” Combined with other efforts from the DOD, such as funding the extraction of rare earth elements from coal-based sources, the package aims to strengthen domestic critical mineral supply chains.
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