Car Guy Biden touting electric vehicles at Detroit auto show

On a trip to the Detroit auto show on Wednesday, President Joe Biden, a self-described "gearhead" with his own vintage Corvette, will highlight the administration's initiatives to encourage electric vehicles.Biden showed out at the enormous North American International Auto Show to promote the gigantic new climate, tax, and healthcare package that provides tax benefits for purchasing electric automobiles. On a sectioned-off convention center floor, he gave tours of a variety of American-made hybrid, electric, and combustion cars made by Chevrolet, General Motors, Ford, and Stellantis, and he addressed CEOs, union members, and local officials.

Although Biden has been given credit for the recent surge of announcements about electric car batteries and production lines, the most of them were already in the works before the Inflation Reduction Act was become law on August 16. It may be related to Biden's infrastructure proposal for 2021, which allocates $5 billion over five years to assist states in building an EV charging station network.

The first $900 million in infrastructure funding for the installation of EV chargers along 53,000 miles of the nation's highway system in 35 states was to be announced by Biden in Detroit.

According to the bill, in order to qualify for a new federal tax credit of up to $7,500, electric cars must be manufactured in North America. There are specifications for the production of battery minerals in North America, as well as for the manufacture of batteries for qualifying cars. The credits are intended to establish a U.S. supply chain for electric vehicles and eliminate reliance on other nations, namely China.

The measure's passage sparked a wild dash by manufacturers to locate North American-made batteries and battery minerals from the U.S., Canada, or Mexico in order to ensure that EVs qualify for the credit.

Ford began producing electric pickup trucks in April at a new facility in Michigan. An outdated facility in Detroit has been renovated by General Motors to produce electric pickup trucks and hummers.

Each corporation announced three EV battery plants, all of which were joint ventures with battery makers, well before legislators found a deal on the legislation. Manufacturing has already begun at a GM battery plant in Warren, Ohio. The construction of GM's battery facilities would be aided by a government loan announced in July.