Former Gov. Granholm makes $3.1 billion EV battery funding announcement in Detroit

Jennifer Granholm
Photo credit Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

DETROIT (WWJ) – The U.S. Department of Energy is injecting $3.1 billion into the clean energy industry in hopes of building up the country’s supply chain for battery manufacturing as the auto industry continues to move towards an all-electric future.

Energy Secretary and former Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm made the funding announcement Monday at the non-profit Focus: HOPE on Detroit’s west side.

The $3.1 billion comes from President Joe Biden’s infrastructure law that puts a major emphasis on clean energy, as he has set a goal of having EVs make up half of all vehicle sales by 2030.

With that goal in mind, there will be a great need for batteries, and Granholm says it’s important for the U.S. to make massive improvements in the supply chain to keep up with demand and reduce reliance on competing nations.

“Often what happens, of course, is that the automakers get pieces of those batteries, maybe the anode, the cathode, the separator material, the electrolyte from other places and assemble them here. We want to make that full supply chain,” Granholm said.

She says the president’s investment in battery production and recycling “will give our domestic supply chain the jolt it needs to become more secure and less reliant on other nations.”

“All of the pieces of the clean energy sector – we need to build them all here, and the president has fought through, through the bipartisan infrastructure law, as well as through the next step in his agenda, which is the tax credits for the clean energy to be able to do manufacturing," Granholm said.

The money from Monday’s announcement will be used for new, retrofitted, and expanded commercial buildings as well as manufacturing demonstrations and battery recycling.

The DOE also announced $60 million in separate funding will support second-life applications for batteries once used to power EVs, as well as new processes for recycling materials back into the battery supply chain.

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Featured Image Photo Credit: Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images