New White House Program Provides Funding to Help Smaller Auto Suppliers Make Transition to EVs
The federal government has pumped billions into EV incentives and charging infrastructure initiatives, and now, it’s automotive suppliers’ turn at the bank. The Biden administration recently announced more than $100 million in funding to help smaller suppliers adapt to the changing automotive world.
Around half of that money comes from the Department of Energy to help internal combustion engine suppliers retool to make EV parts. Another $50 million provides grants of up to $300,000 for the companies to make their factories greener and improve cybersecurity.
Suppliers have been in a tight spot for years as materials and labor costs have skyrocketed. Additionally, while automakers’ production volume has grown since the barren days of the COVID-19 pandemic, they aren’t making cars in the same numbers they did before, reducing revenues for the companies that supply them. Many suppliers also felt the squeeze during last year’s UAW strike, which shut down some of the factories that were making popular vehicle models.
As part of the program, the DOE will also work with the Small Business Administration to provide business coaching and help companies reduce risk across their operations. The SBA will create a pilot program to offer credit lines to small businesses, and the Biden administration will use an existing program to help small suppliers dip into millions in private equity dollars. Those efforts are in addition to a separate fund that aims to assist with workforce and technology training to better equip manufacturing workers as factory lines increasingly shift to building EVs.
[Image: Bok David via Shutterstock]
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Chris grew up in, under, and around cars, but took the long way around to becoming an automotive writer. After a career in technology consulting and a trip through business school, Chris began writing about the automotive industry as a way to reconnect with his passion and get behind the wheel of a new car every week. He focuses on taking complex industry stories and making them digestible by any reader. Just don’t expect him to stay away from high-mileage Porsches.
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Wild to me the US sent like $100B overseas for other peoples wars while we clammer over .1% of that money being used to promote EVs in our country.
No confusion on my end, Ghost. The Government has zero role in job creation outside of the legitimate opportunities' created by Government going about it's responsibilities, namely keeping the American people and territory safe from foreign intrusion. Of course, they're failing epically at that but that's a different topic. The American free enterprise system is what enables job creation. Government's role is to stay out of the way of that system, but they seem incapable of doing so. Oil & Gas exploration is just one example. If a National Job Policy is what you're looking for, there are other countries that will be happy to accept your application for residency.