One issue at the heart of Joe Biden’s presidency, which former President Donald Trump has zeroed in on with increasingly violent rhetoric, could have a major impact in a critical battleground: the effort to accelerate the U.S. transition from gas-powered to electric vehicles.
For Biden combination subsidies for to strengthen electric car manufacturing, new federal standards aimed at further cutting emissionsinvestments charging infrastructure and tax credits Promoting the purchase of electric vehicles is on par with his most ambitious industrial policy and climate change agenda. He has visited many times assembly lines of electric cars and newly built battery plants he and his administration announced new jobs on their agenda increased and increased its share Americans are now driving electric cars.
However, Trump and many of his allies are horrified by the agenda, particularly in Michigan, a longtime center of the American auto industry. severe Conditions, warning of the potential for massive job losses and railing against the means prohibits costsit requires an electrical infrastructure that in many places does not yet exist and does not yet exist fulfill the same possibilities like its gas-powered peers.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, auto manufacturing jobs are growing and the sticker prices of some electric models are starting to come down. But the Biden administration recently cut off his target for an electric car adoption From 67% to about half that amount by 2032, amid the pullback of car labor and management.
The fight is likely to take place in the hotly contested state of Michigan, as well Georgiahas a purple state took billions in electric vehicle investments by automakers. In fact, many of them plants related to new electric vehicles which have opened in recent years red states whom South Carolina and Kentuckywhere state and local legislators there is it sounded their boost to local economies – and where weak union protection allows for lower labor costs.
Major automakers and other industry players largely accept the transition to electric vehicles as inevitable—one they want to accept. Rather than a disaster, they see it as a necessary step not only to combat climate change, but also to protect their own interests.
There is still Trump warned about policies It will cause a “bloodbath” in the US economy, “kill” the auto industry and cause “usurpation” of jobs. At an immigration event in Grand Rapids, Michigan last week, Trump repeatedly criticized Biden’s electric car incentives, calling them “one of the dumbest.” [decisions] I’ve ever heard of’ and predicted they would A boon for Chinese and Mexican automakers.
“Isn’t it a shame to play away from our strength?” he pointed to the oil and gas reserves in the United States and promised to “end” this policy immediately. “And we’re playing to their strengths by doing that.”
Senator Mallory McMorrow, a Democrat from the state of Michigan, said that she was disappointed with the way Trump and other Republicans reacted to this issue. “This change will take time,” he said, acknowledging that electric vehicles remain too expensive for many consumers and that the EV supply chain is still a work in progress.
But not continuing the transition is “not an option,” he added, pointing to other countries phasing out vehicles with internal combustion engines.
“If Donald Trump can convince workers that we have a choice not to make the switch, then you’re going to get to the point where our automakers are going to go out of business because they won’t have any more customers to sell to. especially in the global market,” he said. “It’s hard to understand this nuance.”
Republicans who spoke to NBC News said it’s not that they don’t have any problems with electric vehicles, but that they feel the Biden administration is rushing this part of the economy too quickly, especially before the power grid and infrastructure is fully ready to handle it. he
“There’s a very high level of skepticism among the people I’ve talked to and interacted with about the sustainability of electric vehicles taking over our transportation system in the near future,” said Sen. Ed McBroom of Michigan, a Republican.
Polls found mixed opinions and a distinct partisan divide over the turnout. A Pew Research Center survey revealed last year 59% of US adults opposed a phase-out of new gasoline-powered vehicles by 2035, up from 51% in 2021. adults supported it, although the number of Republicans and Democrats who opposed it increased since 2021.
Gallup conducted a survey last month and 7% of Americans say they own an electric vehicle, according to data released Monday. But now fewer Americans say they might consider buying an electric car, down from 43% to 35% a year ago. There was also a significant partisan breakdown, with Republicans 42 points more likely than Democrats and 22 points more likely than independents to say they would not buy an electric car.
in michigan, state level survey The survey by the Detroit Regional Chamber and the Glengariff group, with a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points, found that 46% of Michigan voters support a transition to electric vehicles, while 44% oppose it. The split was announced between mostly supportive Democrats and mostly opposed Republicans, with independent voters favoring passage by 8 points. Voters in metro Detroit favored it by 20 points, while voters in other parts of the state opposed it by 10 points.
In A focus group of Michigan voters Voters who were either union members or had family members in unions, who supported Trump and Biden, raised concerns about the shift to electric vehicles, though most concerns focused on consumer concerns — the cars didn’t perform as well as gas-powered cars and worries about potential job losses. not, the infrastructure for widespread implementation is not yet in place. The sessions were developed in collaboration Syracuse University and Sagointernational market research company, for the NBC News Deciders Focus Group series.
However, none of the voters surveyed disagreed with Trump’s prediction that Biden’s electric car policy would cause a “bloodbath” that would wipe out jobs in the auto industry. And none said those policies made them more or less likely to support Biden’s candidacy.
“I don’t think it’s a good thing or a bad thing,” said Biden supporter Andrea G. of Warren, Michigan. “I just think he’s still so new that there’s a lot more to him. I don’t have complete information. I don’t think they do either.”
Nationally, the auto industry has experienced significant job growth since Biden took office in January 2021. Preliminary job numbers for March from the Bureau of Labor Statistics show that more Americans are employed in motor vehicle and parts manufacturing than in nearly 20 years, an increase of about 120,000. Work during the Biden administration.
The sector grew by about 55,000 jobs during the first two years of Trump’s presidency before the recession hit just before the pandemic, and the Covid virus further cut job growth. He left office with the loss of 8,000 auto manufacturing jobs, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
However, preliminary March figures from the Michigan Bureau of Labor Statistics show that auto manufacturing has gained about 3,000 jobs during the Biden administration, while the auto parts manufacturing sector has lost about 4,000 jobs. Trump’s presidency coincided with the loss of nearly 1,000 jobs in the first, and 8,000 in the second.
Business implications of the EV push was front and center During negotiations between Detroit automakers and the United Auto Workers last year, workers were particularly upset by the notion that electric vehicles require less labor to produce, meaning fewer jobs.
That point has been at the heart of a Republican pushback against the policies in Michigan.
State GOP Chairman Pete Hoekstra predicted that the jobs in his state will not only involve automakers, but also auto parts suppliers.
“Electric vehicles require 40% less labor to assemble than vehicles with internal combustion engines,” he said. “It will have a significant impact. … Some jobs are being replaced by new machines. It is useful to have them elsewhere. But that would still be a significant net loss of high-quality, high-paying jobs in Michigan.
But Carnegie Mellon University researchers It found that electric car production would actually increase the number of total labor hours required to complete a car.
Kate Whitefoot, an associate professor of mechanical engineering, engineering and public policy who worked on the study, told NBC News that the claim that electric vehicles require less labor “is really about the simple view that if you have fewer parts, you have less labor.”
“And that’s just not the case,” he said, noting that EV production may actually lead to increased manufacturing worker hours, as the study examines how many processes are required, rather than how many parts.
Still, on the consumer side, electric cars make up only a small portion of the overall car market, and growth is starting to slow. Mark Schirmer, a spokesman for Cox Automotive, an automotive information firm, said that while electric vehicles are “still more expensive than the average car,” they are “getting closer to parity.” Schirmer said a big reason for the decline in EV sales is slowing sales of Tesla, the biggest player in the US EV market.
For Trump, electric car policies provide an opportunity to attack Biden’s position among workers, his economic policies and his handling of China. the leader In the EV market, in one punch.
“Joe Biden’s extreme electric car mandate will force Americans to buy ultra-expensive cars they don’t want and can’t afford, while destroying the US auto industry in the process,” Trump spokeswoman Caroline Leavitt said. “This radical policy is anti-job, anti-consumer and anti-American. It will destroy the livelihoods of countless US auto workers while shipping the US auto industry to China.”
Former Rep. Andy Levin, D-Mich., said Trump took the “kernel of truth” and twisted it “beyond recognition.”
“The president has agreed to slow the transition to EVs in a way that the UAW and auto companies support,” he said. “So Trump is really on his own here. This is hot rhetoric. But in fact, the US car manufacturers and the trade union are also planning to move towards EVs together with Biden.