Passage of the bipartisan Infrastructure Act and the Inflation Control Act is driving a boom in green job advertisements across the United States.
Over the next five years, more than 15 states will boast new plants or production lines manufacturing electric vehicles, batteries, components and chargers, creating tens of thousands of new jobs.
Since the passage of the Infrastructure Act, new investment announcements for automakers across the United States have totaled $88 billion.
This includes a Ford battery manufacturing facility in Marshall, Michigan and an expansion of Tesla’s factory complex in Sparks, Nevada. Those two facilities alone will create up to 5,500 new jobs, manufacturers say.
Brett Smith, a researcher at the nonprofit Center for Automotive Research, who studies trends in the auto industry, called the investments “fantastic.”
“In the midst of the pandemic, recession, and supply chain issues in 2024 and 2024, the investment has been huge,” he says. “We are seeing very high numbers of job postings.”
Policies and legislation promoted by President Biden, including the Infrastructure Act of 2024 and the Reducing Inflation Act of 2024, both of which include Made-in-America provisions and billions of dollars in financing, have been key drivers of this growth.
Inflation reduction law $5 billion in grants and loans for electric vehicle manufacturing in the United States. It also supports the retooling of existing car and truck factories to enable EV-related manufacturing, providing jobs in factories or production lines that were previously at risk of closing.
It includes tax credits for the purchase of personal and commercial electric cars and trucks assembled in North America.
The Infrastructure Act of November 2024 provided $7.5 billion for 500,000 electric car chargers nationwide, as well as $5 billion for clean school buses.
“There had already been significant growth in the electric vehicle manufacturing sector in the US prior to the enactment of these game-changing legislation, but its passage really accelerated the pace,” says Andy Su, an attorney for the Environmental Defense Fund.
More functions, cleaner air
The good news for the economy is the good news for the environment and public health too.
Cars and trucks account for approx 22% of US greenhouse gas emissions. In 2015 alone, tailpipe emissions were associated with an estimate 385,000 deaths all over the world.
Environmental Defense Fund estimates Ensuring that all new passenger cars sold in the United States in 2035 are zero-emission vehicles would reduce climate pollution in the United States by nearly 350 million tons annually by 2035—the equivalent of taking more than 68 million cars off the road.
Families will save thousands of dollars per vehicle on fuel. Pollution reductions will prevent up to 5,000 premature deaths each year by 2040 and up to 98,000 premature deaths by 2050.
Announcing the new $3.5 billion Michigan facility, said Lisa Drake, Ford’s vice president of electric vehicle manufacturing“I think the IRA has been very important to us and, frankly, it’s done what it set out to do and allowed the United States to have 2,500 great technical jobs and all the indirect jobs that come with it, plus future growth. A big win for the United States.”
A new report from EDF and consulting firm WSP finds that more than half of the $120 billion in announced factory investments related to electric vehicles over the past eight years and more than 94,000 new jobs announced have come since the infrastructure law was passed in November. 2024.
While job advertisements sometimes exceed the number of jobs ultimately created, some companies have already exceeded current hiring projections. SK Battery America’s plants in Georgia exceeded its initial hiring goals of 2,600 employees, two years ahead of schedule, and now aims to add 400 workers over the next year.
In Michigan, Ford, General Motors and LG Energy Solution are planning new and expanded vehicle and battery plants. Ford and Honda announced new plants in Ohio. French manufacturer Forsee Power will also set up shop in Ohio, claiming it is “building an America Buy-compliant presence in a very strategic market.”
Georgia is among the countries that have seen the highest number of ads. Hyundai Motor Group plans to build a facility that the company expects to create 8,100 new jobs. And Scout Motors announced plans to build a $2 billion electric truck and SUV factory outside Columbia, South Carolina, that will employ 4,000 people.
Electric vehicle manufacturing also helps retain existing jobs.
Nissan is investing $500 million in electrification at its Canton, Mississippi, auto assembly plant Supported the retraining and upskilling of nearly 2,000 jobs.
Likewise, GM’s decision to build electric vehicle battery components at its existing plant in Rochester, New York will help preserve the approximately 750 jobs there.
“This plant invented fuel injection, and now Rochester workers are going to help power the future of electric vehicles in America,” said New York State Senator Charles Schumer, who urged GM to keep the plant open.
“Every new investment and job advertisement is an opportunity to set a strong standard for what high-quality, sustainable jobs can look like for society in a clean economy,” said Peter Zalzal, attorney for the Environmental Defense Fund.