U.S. Energy Department awards $1.7 billion to boost electric vehicle manufacturing and assembly in eight states

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration is awarding nearly $2 billion in grants to help restart or expand electric vehicle manufacturing and assembly sites in eight states, including the presidential battlegrounds of Michigan, Pennsylvania and Georgia. The Energy Department will issue grants totaling $1.7 billion to create or retain thousands of union jobs and support auto-based communities. Besides the three battleground states, grants also will go to EV facilities in Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland and Virginia. The grants cover a broad range of the automotive supply chain, the White House said, including electric motorcycles and school buses, hybrid powertrains, heavy-duty commercial truck batteries and electric SUVs. The 2022 climate law pays for the grants.