‘Car guy’ Biden touts electric vehicles at Detroit auto show
DETROIT — President Joe Biden, a “car guy” with his own vintage Corvette, showcased his administration’s efforts to promote electric vehicles during a visit Wednesday to the Detroit auto show.
Biden traveled to the massive North American International Auto Show to plug the huge new climate, tax and health care law that offers tax incentives for buying electric vehicles. He toured a mix of American-manufactured hybrid, electric and combustion vehicles from Chevrolet, General Motors, Ford and Stellantis on a closed-off convention center floor, and greeted union workers, CEOs and local leaders.
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“You all know I’m a car guy,” Biden told a roaring crowd of autoworkers, adding that cars “just give me a sense of optimism — although I like the speed too.”
While Biden has been taking credit for the recent boom in electric vehicle battery and assembly plant announcements, most were in the works long before the Inflation Reduction Act was signed into law on Aug. 16. Biden’s 2021 infrastructure legislation could have something to do with it — it provides $5 billion over five years to help states create a network of EV charging stations.
In Detroit, Biden announced approval of the first $900 million in infrastructure money to build EV chargers across 53,000 miles of the national highway system in 34 states and Puerto Rico.
“The great American road trip is going to be fully electrified,” Biden said.
He also highlighted the law’s funding supporting infrastructure projects in Detroit and across Michigan.
“When you see these big projects in your home towns,” Biden said, “I want you to feel the way I feel: Pride. Pride in what we can do when we do it together.”
The president credited the United Auto Workers and other unions with supporting him in his 2020 bid for the White House.
He highlighted how his administration has worked to promote union contracts for big projects, calling union workers the “most skilled” in the nation.
He made time for party politics, too. He praised Michigan Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who is up for reelection in November, calling her “a great governor” who has utilized federal resources for her state to the fullest.
