Biden tours Detroit Auto Show, highlighting electric vehicle push

U.S. President Joe Biden sits in a Chevrolet Corvette Z06 as he tours the 2022 North American International Auto Show at Huntington Place Convention Center in Detroit, Michigan on Sept. 14. AFP-Yonhap

Fresh off recent legislative victories, President Joe Biden touted an electric auto future Wednesday as the new-generation models shared the stage with gasoline at a revived Detroit Auto Show.

"The great American Road Trip is going to be fully electrified," Biden proclaimed after test-driving one auto during a gleeful spin through showroom floor.

"When you're driving coast to coast along I-10 or on I-75 here in Michigan, charging stations will be up and easy to find as gas stations are now."

The visit by Biden, a self-professed "car guy," has boosted the profile of the Detroit gathering, which is much smaller than in years past, with most foreign automakers and newer players like Tesla not presenting.

While gasoline-powered cars still dominate US roads, Detroit auto giants have unveiled more EVs as they seek to wrest control of a growing market from Tesla and newer upstarts.

Biden's appearance comes just weeks after the US president signed into law major new investments in semiconductor production and combatting climate change, lending the US president's Democratic Party some momentum heading into the November midterm elections.

"People are on the precipice of a massive adoption of EVs," Chevrolet Vice President Steve Majoros told AFP shortly before a presentation highlighting the General Motors brand's slate of electric versions of top-selling trucks.

"More and more Americans are ready," said Majoros, who said the increased number of charging stations has boosted confidence in EVs.

Stellantis brand Jeep released a 30-year commemorative edition of the popular Grand Cherokee SUV, as well as a new fifth-generation model that is the first Jeep plug-in hybrid.

Ford is scheduled to present its seventh-generation Mustang Wednesday night at an evening event. The company has organized a "stampede" to Detroit's Hart Plaza of Mustangs from the six earlier generations, begun in Tacoma Washington and crossing nine states.

But the Detroit show has otherwise been short of the sort of glitzy reveals of years past, a shift that partly refects changing preferences of companies who now prefer to market directly to consumers in online launch events.

President Joe Biden arrives to speak at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, Wednesday, Sept. 14. AP-Yonhap

Corvette fan

Midway through the morning, the Detroit convention center was cleared of journalists to secure the space for Biden, who was greeted by GM Chief Executive Mary Barra and other top GM officials before test-driving the Cadillac Lyriq, a luxury EV.

The U.S. president said he liked the Lyriq, but took a particular shine to an Orange Corvette he had earlier examined, according to a White House pool press report.

"He said he's driving it home," Barra said of Biden's reaction to the Corvette, a gasoline-powered vehicle.

Biden announced that the administration had approved funding for the first round of EV charging stations included in a $7.5 billion program funded by the 2021 infrastructure bill.

A White House fact sheet highlighted a deluge of announcements by companies that have amounted to nearly $85 billion in investment on manufacturing of EVs, batteries, and chargers in the United States since Biden took office.

Biden has a long and generally warm relationship with Detroit giants after presiding as vice president over the bailouts following the 2008 financial crisis.

As president, he has visited both GM and Ford.

Biden "has given a lot of kudos to the Detroit automakers," said Jessica Caldwell, executive director of insights for the automotive research firm Edmunds.

"He's really highlighted a lot of their products," she said. "He's been seen driving a lot of their products at the White House and all sorts of other places."

Sourcing rules

But automakers have been griping about a provision in the just-passed Inflation Reduction Act that sets strict sourcing requirements for federal EV subsidies.

The requirement is meant to prod automakers into using EV batteries produced in North America as well as critical materials sourced from North America or countries with which the United States has a free trade agreement.

Automakers are hoping officials in Washington show flexibility in implementing the rule.

Majoros said it is too soon to say whether the rule will prevent new subsidies for key vehicles, such as the Equinox, an SUV unveiled last Thursday with a starting price of $30,000, an affordable level in a pricey space.

"We're looking at future plans, we're studying how things might adapt what we do from a sourcing perspective," Majoros said.

The GM brand plans to begin modest production of the Equinox in 2023, but 2024 is expected to be a "big year" with higher output, Majoros said.

Production will go still higher in 2025, but Chevy isn't releasing specific targets.

Majoros said Chevrolet has capacity to "flex" output depending on demand, adding, "There's a lot of questions about the rate at which industry will adapt." (AFP)