DETROIT – Electric vehicles were in the spotlight last week when former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm, now US Energy Secretary, visited Southeast Michigan to support passage of the $1.2 Trillion Infrastructure and Jobs Act that passed the U.S. Senate today on a 69-30 vote.

As part of the bill, President Biden wants to make electric vehicles up to 50 percent of all car and light truck sales in the United States by 2030. General Motors, Ford Motor Company and other automakers are scrambling to reach these lofty goals.

Here are what’s in store for electric vehicles if the Infrastructure Act passes the U.S. House of Representatives:

According to the President: “The bill invests $7.5 billion to build out a national network of EV chargers. This is the first-ever national investment in EV charging infrastructure in the United States and is a critical element in the Biden-Harris Administration’s plan to accelerate the adoption of EVs to address the climate crisis and support domestic manufacturing jobs.”

What It Means for Michigan:

  • Consumers Energy, DTE Energy and state energy agencies are working to build Michigan’s charging network for electric vehicles. Consumers Energy has funded over 900 home, business and public EV chargers in the last two years, including over two dozen fast chargers along highways and major roads.
  • Consumers Energy has a goal to help install over 200 fast charging locations and 2,000 additional residential chargers in Michigan over the next three years.
  • The legislation would accelerate that growth, offering new incentives to ensure chargers are in place for drivers at home (where most EV charging takes place) and in public and work locations.

White House: “The deal will deliver thousands of electric school buses nationwide, including in rural communities, helping school districts across the country buy clean, American-made, zero emission buses, and replace the yellow school bus fleet for America’s children.”

What It Means for Michigan:

  • This spring, Consumers Energy unveiled PowerMIFleet, a new effort to help businesses, schools and local governments make the EV transition.
  • The new legislation would add to that effort by making it more affordable for school districts to buy electric buses.
  • PowerMIFleet will offer $3 million in rebates for charging locations and experts to help employers electrify their fleets.

The infrastructure bill also would provide $65 Billion to expand broadband into rural America, and is the  largest infusion of federal investment into infrastructure projects in more than a decade, touching nearly every facet of the American economy and fortifying the nation’s response to the warming of the planet.

It would provide historic levels of funding for the modernization of the nation’s power grid and projects to better manage climate risks, as well as pour hundreds of billions of dollars into the repair and replacement of aging public works projects.

The bill would direct $550 billion in new federal spending toward infrastructure projects across the country, and renew and revamp existing programs set to expire at the end of September. It would provide $110 billion for roads, bridges and other projects; $25 billion for airports; and the most funding for Amtrak since the passenger rail service was founded in 1971.

To get more details, click on https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/10/us/politics/infrastructure-bill-passes.html