The US provides GM and LG with $2.5 billion in loans for three battery plants

President Joe Biden announced a $2.5 billion loan to GM and LG to build a new US battery plant, Geely’s premium electric car maker Zeekr go public, and the results of the United Auto Workers leadership election may not be clear until January 2023. All this and more. Morning shift For Monday, December 12th, 2022.

1st Gear: GM and LG received a $2.5 premiumB For Battery Plants

Continuing the trend of spending heavily on electric cars, $2.5 billion will be spent on a new battery plant in the United States. After Hyundai and BMW announced that they will convert millions to stateside battery factories, the US government raised the stake by announcing a large loan for General Motors and LG.

2.5 billion dollars debt Issued by the US Department of Energy’s Office of Loan Programs, CNN reported on this. The loan will help start three lithium battery manufacturing centers in Ohio and Tennessee. and Michigan. According to CNN:

The DOE loan programs office will loan the money to Ultium Cells LLC, a joint venture between General Motors and South Korean battery maker LG Energy Solutions, which makes batteries to power electric vehicles. General Motors has promised to go completely electric by 2035, abandoning conventional gas and diesel engines.

US Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said in a statement that the DOE loan “accelerate domestic battery cell production needed to reduce our dependence on other countries to meet growing demand.

The Department of Energy estimates that the three new battery plants will create up to 11,000 American jobs.

Automakers have been scrambling to move EV production to the US in recent months. This happened after the adoption of the law on reducing inflation Up to $7,500 in tax credits for home salesbut only for vehicles assembled here in America.

2nd Gear: Wants Chinese EV maker Zeekr Go Public

If anything EV likes startups, publicized. After Polestar and Fisker, among others, went public, Vietnamese car manufacturer VinFast it looked like. And now it seems that the Chinese EV manufacturer Zeekr has also taken this step.

Reuters reports The Geely-backed EV maker is considering an initial public offering to raise more than $1 billion. according to Reuters:

Zeekr, the premium electric car brand of Chinese carmaker Geely, has privately filed for a US initial public offering, aiming to raise more than $1 billion.

In what would be the first major Chinese flotation in the U.S. in more than a year and a half, Zeekr is seeking a price of more than $10 billion, two of the sources said. That compares with a valuation of nearly $9 billion in its first foreign funding last year.

Zeekr has reportedly filed with US regulators and plans to go public in the second quarter of 2023.

Zeekr also plans to launch its first EV in Europe next year. Zeekr 001 The SUV is expected to go on sale in Europe in 2023 with dual electric motors and enough battery capacity to cover 400 miles per charge.

3rd Gear: UAW Leadership will not be Be was elected until January

The United Auto Workers leadership election has taken another twistas reported that we won’t know the real winners until January. The members of the association voted to change and elect the board of directors new president, but some positions will now be filled by second-round elections.

according to Automotive News, six new members of the 14-member board will be sworn in later today. However, none of the five candidates could win the majority of the votes, so it was not possible to decide the voting for the presidency. Automotive News informs:

Three regional directors, two vice-presidents and a secretary-treasurer won election to the International Executive Board as outsiders, most of them running as part of the reform caucus All Workers for Democracy. Those six newcomers are scheduled to be sworn in on Monday, December 12.

“Incumbent Ray Curry will face off against Shawn Fain of the same caucus in January after none of the five candidates won a majority. The fight for the position of the third vice-president and another regional director will be determined by the second rounds.

The election results mean that the reformers hold six of the 14 government positions so far. Members pushed for reforms After a corruption scandal involving a number of former officials.

J11 percent of UAW members voted in the election.

4th Gear: Automakers slam Switzerland’s EV plans

Rumors about it started circulating last week Switzerland was considering new measures to monitor the usage and charging habits of EV drivers in the alpine country. All of this was designed to ease the burden on Ukraine’s power supply should Russia’s intervention strike the power grid in the coming months.

However, the measures, which include restrictions on EV charging during blackouts, have been criticized by Switzerland’s auto lobby. According to Reuters, the Swiss car importers’ lobby (auto-schweiz) argued that the “mere suggestion” of such rules would encourage consumers to stick to petrol cars instead of electric cars. Reuters reports:

The government has proposed increasingly stringent measures to save energy due to shortages of gas and electric appliances, which could lead to rationing in a worst-case scenario.

One of the regulations would limit the personal use of electric vehicles unless there is an urgent need for work, shopping, doctor’s visits or religious services.

Auto-schweiz said the proposal would chill sales of electric vehicles and jeopardize the sector’s prospects of meeting its carbon emissions reduction targets.

The Swiss government, like the rules on when you can and can’t charge your EV, “This can prevent unnecessary use of force.” This includes the lighting of shop windows or the use of mobile heaters. Reuters reports that this could reduce energy use by 30 percent “as a last resort.”

5th Gear: New Charger on the Block

If EV drivers encounter less in Switzerland charging capabilities, battery operated drives Cars in the US may soon face against the fates. That’s because Korean charger manufacturer Chaevi plans to expand its network of fast chargers in America.

Bloomberg reports The Korean manufacturer has already opened an office in the US as it focuses on expansion here and abroad. The company, which has installed 26,000 chargers in Korea so far, is also exploring locations for a manufacturing operation here in America. Bloomberg reports:

This is Tesla Inc., EVgo Inc. and Electrify America LLC, but the recently passed Inflation Reduction Act forces Chaevin to consider investments in North America. The act, which aims to reduce dependence on China and encourage global automakers to build more vehicles in the U.S., could also provide subsidies to manufacturers of electric vehicle chargers.

According to a Bloomberg report, Chaevi isn’t the only charger maker looking to expand in the US. Battery manufacturer SK Group has backed charging provider Atom Power Inc. and signed a deal with Hyundai Lotte Group that will “provide real estate for retail giant Hyundai’s charging stations.”

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