What Is The US Battery Belt And Why Its Existence Is Tied To EV Adoption?
The US battery belt is a wide swath of land across the united states where batteries and other electric vehicle accessories are being created. The term comes from “the rust belt” which was an area from New York through the Midwest where manufacturing plants once dominated.
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It’s the dawn of a new era in the United States. As we continually hear news of an impending recession, inflation, and interest rate increases, the US is still looking forward to a new way of pulling itself up from its bootstraps. And that is through electric vehicles (EVs) and the battery belt.
According to electrek, the United States is investing more than $40B in factories, manufacturing plants, and technology to support electric vehicle production. The area of the US, known as the battery belt will take over the region known in the past as the rust belt, where manufacturing prospered in the 20th Century.
As the country evolves and turns to sustainability in order to, well, sustain itself, the new battery belt will bring jobs, technology, prosperity, and hope. Thanks to new bills passed by President Biden, money will start to flow into EV production sectors.
The bills that were passed, thanks to the Biden administration, were the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law $89.9 billion in funding to modernize public transit and another $7.5B in investments to build an EV charging network across the US. This network will be known as the battery belt.
In addition to the Infrastructure Law, the CHIPS and Science Act was passed to address the creation of semiconductors. With the $52.7 billion in investments it provides, it will establish a reliable domestic supply chain for EV battery production and also create the battery belt.
To create even more money for battery belt creation, the recently passed Inflation Reduction Act, signed into law on August 16, invests $369 billion to build a clean, sustainable economy, including tax credits for EV buyers.
The hefty sum of financial power will help put the battery belt on the map and help create a brand new world of electrical, sustainable transportation, not just in the US, but throughout the world.
Move Over Tesla
This influx of money and the creation of the battery belt, will not only support consumers in the purchase of their EVs, but help companies like GM, Chevy, and Toyota transition to all-electric vehicles. And they do have many plans in place for this transition already.
Much like in the 1920s and 1930s, when President Herbert Hoover promised “a chicken in every pot and two cars in every garage,” today’s rallying cry is “An EV for everyone.” The battery belt will help with this. As the price of an EV at first seemed out of reach for many Americans, as more EVs are produced in the states, the price of the cars will decline.
Tesla was one of the very first companies to put EVs in the garages of many Americans, but with tax credits, more models from the company, and competition from other car manufacturers, EVs will be more attainable. This is the goal in order to see a more sustainable, green future.
In the near future, it was emphasized that California will no longer sell gas-powered cars. This is a strategy, along with tax credits and more attainable EVs, that will enable the battery belt to explode.
After all, many experts agree that driving an EV is more enjoyable than a gas-powered one. Although die-hard motorheads may disagree, EVs give a smoother ride and provide a solution to stop climate change. Together, we can all have a greener future and can look forward to a prosperous battery belt.
