Contact: Noah Barnes
noah@electrification.org, (202) 461-2371
WASHINGTON—One year ago, on August 16, 2022, President Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), creating generational levels of investment in transportation electrification and a seismic shift in the future of transportation.
The IRA is spurring billions in investments in manufacturing and supply chains, creating stronger economies for communities across America, including rural, tribal, and disadvantaged communities, and continuing our nation’s leadership in the global automotive sector. IRA investments cross political boundaries, benefitting red and blue states, and put resources in the hands of local decision-makers, who are taking action and passing state and local policies aligning with these federal investments.
One year after President Biden signed the IRA, we are seeing greater numbers of EV models available on the market, rapidly growing charging infrastructure, an increasing number of electric medium- and heavy-duty vehicles, and additional manufacturing of vehicles, batteries, and charging equipment.
A recent report identified over $120 billion in private investments, which will require hiring American workers to build a domestic EV supply chain. Nearly 60,000 jobs have been announced since the IRA was signed just one year ago.
“The Inflation Reduction Act has secured billions of dollars for the electric vehicle industry, expanding clean energy efforts and manufacturing jobs in the U.S.,” said Brian Robb, government relations director with Lion Electric. “As a result of these investments and commitments, this summer Lion Electric officially opened its 900,000 square-foot Joliet, Illinois facility – the largest, all-electric U.S. plant dedicated to medium and heavy-duty commercial vehicle production. At full scale, the plant will have an estimated production capacity of 20,000 vehicles per year in a combination of both zero-emission school buses and electric trucks, which the company expects will lead to nearly 1,400 skilled workers.”
Additional investments include:
- Rivian is investing $5 billion and creating 7,500 jobs in Georgia.
- Hyundai and SK On are investing $5 billion and creating 3,500 jobs in Bartow County, Georgia.
- Hyundai and LG are investing $4.3 billion and creating 3,000 jobs to build EV batteries in Southeast Georgia.
- Toyota will manufacture batteries in North Carolina, investing $3.8 billion and creating 2,100 jobs.
- Tesla is investing $3.6 billion and creating 3,000 jobs in Sparks, NV.
- Redwood Materials is investing $3.5 billion and creating 1,500 jobs at a battery recycling plant in Reno, NV.
- GM and Samsung are investing $3 billion and creating 1,700 jobs at a battery plant in New Carlisle, IN.
- Norwegian company Freyr is accelerating its $2.6 billion investment in battery manufacturing in Georgia. Freyr CEO Tom Jensen said that IRA incentives have made U.S. production three times as profitable as in the company’s home country of Norway.
- Stellantis and Samsung are investing $2.5 billion and creating 1,500 jobs in Kokomo, IN.
- Gotion is investing $2.36 billion and creating 2,350 jobs in Big Rapids, MI, to manufacture EV batteries.
- Scout Motors is investing $2 billion and creating 4,000 jobs in Columbia, SC.
- Our Next Energy is investing $1.6 billion and creating 2,112 jobs in Van Buren Township, MI to manufacture EV batteries.
- ABB is investing $170 million and creating jobs in EV manufacturing, innovation and distribution operations in Georgia, Michigan, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Wisconsin.
- Finnish company Kempower is investing $41 million and creating 601 jobs to build EV chargers in Durham, NC.
- ADS-TEC Energy is investing $8 million and creating 180 jobs in Auburn, AL to build EV charging infrastructure.
“The United States is in a global race with China to see who will build the future of transportation,” said Ben Prochazka, executive director of the Electrification Coalition. “Thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act, we are in a much better place than we were two years ago. We want Americans to build the next generation of vehicles that Americans will be driving.”
“Public investment clearly is a catalyst for private investment,” said Bridget Sanderson, coordinator for the Coalition Helping America Rebuild and Go Electric (CHARGE), which includes more than 55 members from the public, private and non-profit sectors that support an equitable transition to cleaner transportation options. “We need more of this investment to go toward communities where it can do the most good for more people, like environmental justice communities and mobility deserts. We can’t stop at the IRA – we need to keep moving forward to cut pollution and save people money.”
The IRA extended tax credits for light-duty EVs and charging equipment, created new tax credits for used and commercial EVs, provided key support for EV manufacturing and supply chains in the U.S., and much more.
The revised 30D light-duty EV tax credit included new stipulations that, to receive the credit, vehicles must have final assembly in North America, a percentage of battery components must be manufactured or assembled in North America, and a percentage of critical minerals must be mined or processed in the U.S. or countries with which the U.S. has a free trade agreement, or recycled in North America.
The IRA is also making the U.S. stronger and safer by reducing our nation’s century-old reliance on oil for transportation, which has led to numerous national and economic security risks. In contrast, electricity is produced through diverse and domestic sources and has less price volatility than oil. Plugging into the grid is cleaner and cheaper.
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About the Electrification Coalition: The Electrification Coalition is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that promotes policies and actions to facilitate the widespread adoption of plug-in electric vehicles (EVs) on a mass scale to overcome the economic, public health and national security challenges that stem from America’s dependence on oil. electrificationcoalition.org