President Joe Biden is a muscle-car guy; one of his most prized possessions is a 1967 Corvette that he got from his father. But he is trying to make this an electric vehicle world.
The $2 trillion infrastructure plan that he unveiled Wednesday is aimed at tackling climate change in part by spending up to $174 billion to encourage Americans to switch to cars and trucks that run on electricity, not gasoline or diesel. That is a large investment, but it might not be enough to push most Americans toward EVs.
Despite rapid growth in recent years, electric vehicles remain a niche product, making up just 2% of the new car market and 1% of all cars, sport utility vehicles, vans and pickup trucks on the road. They have been slow to take off in large part because they can cost up to $10,000 more than similar conventional cars and trucks. Charging EVs is also more difficult and slower than simply refilling the tank at far more prevalent gas stations.
John Paul MacDuffie nationalobserver.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from nationalobserver.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
John Paul MacDuffie is Professor of Management at the Wharton School and Director of the Program on Vehicle and Mobility Innovation (PVMI) at the Mack Institute for Innovation Management. His research, primarily on the global automotive industry, has examined the impact of human resource systems and work organization on economic performance.
Analysis
The global automobile industry is peering into an electric future, possibly the most profound turning point in a century, certainly since the 2009 financial crisis. But there are many bumps in the road ahead. The carmaker of the future will have to be as much a battery or software company as it is an engineering company, and several of the biggest companies are already stumbling over that, for cultural and technical reasons alike.