Biden promises 500,000 electric vehicle (EV) charging stations

With over 40 million Americans not having enough food to eat, and 53 million Americans drowning in a cycle of low-wage work, “President-Elect” Joe Biden is now promising to build 550,000 electric vehicle (EV) charging stations and create over 1 million jobs by investing in clean energy research over the next few years.

To put this into perspective, in March 2020, the U.S. had approximately 78,500 charging outlets and almost 25,000 charging stations for plug-in electric vehicles, a considerable sum of these chargers are found in California, with 6,835 stations and 28,545 power outlets, according to data from research firm Statista. This is good news and a great windfall for electric vehicle companies like Tesla and others. It is also going to be a good opportunity for tech startups to showcase their innovations.

According to Reuters, the effort is part of Biden’s plan to eclipse China in EV production and develop the right green policies. In addition to the EV charging stations, Biden also promised during his campaign before the election to help the United States compete with China on electric vehicles (EVs) as part of a $2 trillion plan to fight climate change.

Biden’s plan to spend trillions of dollars on green tech and climate change is nothing new. In 2009, the Obama administration spent $2.4 billion of the $787 billion stimulus bill to promote battery and EV production. The administration also gave consumers a federal tax credit of up to $7,500 for buying electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids.

Meanwhile, Zero Emission Transportation Association, or ZETA, a group of 28 car and utility companies, including Tesla Inc, PG&E Corp, and Southern Co, was launched last month to lobby the U.S. federal government for EV-friendly policies.