The Driven
  • EV News
    • Electric Cars
    • Electric Bikes
    • Electric Boats
    • EV Conversions
    • Electric Flight
    • Electric Transport
    • Hydrogen Fuel Cell
    • Batteries
    • Charging
    • Policy
  • EV Models
  • EV Sales
  • Road Trips
  • Reviews
  • Multimedia
    • Podcasts
    • Videos
  • EV Explainers
    • FAQs
    • Readers’ Questions

The Driven
The Driven
  • EV News
    • Electric Cars
    • Electric Bikes
    • Electric Boats
    • EV Conversions
    • Electric Flight
    • Electric Transport
    • Hydrogen Fuel Cell
    • Batteries
    • Charging
    • Policy
  • EV Models
  • EV Sales
  • Road Trips
  • Reviews
  • Multimedia
    • Podcasts
    • Videos
  • EV Explainers
    • FAQs
    • Readers’ Questions
Comments
  • Policy

“This sucker’s quick:” Biden test-drives electric Ford ute, fleshes out EV plan

  • May 20, 2021
  • No comments
  • 2 minute read
  • Ketan Joshi
Share 43
Tweet 0
Share 0
Share 0
Share 0
Share 0
Share 0
Share 0
Share 0

The transition to electric vehicles in one of the world’s biggest and toughest markets – the United States – is beginning to take shape as President Joe Biden begins fleshing out a potential pathway to transitioning away from combustion vehicles.

President Joe Biden admits US is playing catch up with a world rapidly overtaking it (despite the success of Tesla), and has announced a plan to boost the growth of locally manufactured electric vehicles in the US. “The American Jobs Plan will create incentives to continue to lower the cost of and support market demand for electric vehicles”, he said.

It is part of the administration’s $2 trillion USD infrastrucutre plan. Consumer incentives to purchase EVs are the keystone of the plan, with a caveat that these incentives will not go towards “luxury models” and that they would incentivise manufactureres with good labour practices. Additional cash will go towards EV charging stations, research, supply chain and manufacturing.

The announcement also includes money for transit buses, school buses and the transformation of federal government fleets to electric alternatives. “The federal government spends more than a half-a-trillion dollars buying goods and services each year. This purchasing power can be used to drive innovation and clean energy production, as well as to support high quality jobs”.

Biden made the announcement at the Ford testing track in Dearborn, Michigan. He test-drove the new Ford F150 Lightning electric ute, seen as a game-changing vehicle given the popularity of the ICE version of this model among Americans.

“This sucker’s quick”, Biden said. Associated Press reports that a long range F150 Lightning will be capable of travelling 300 miles – 480 kilometres – on a single charge.

Ford later revealed the F150. See our story here: Ford counters Tesla Cybertruck with tradie-ready F-150 electric ute. During a tour of the facility, Ford’s engineers revealed the batteries weigh approximately 816 kilograms, which Biden suggested rivals the size of batteries used in electric school buses.

The 2022 Ford F-150 Lightning makes an early appearance during President Biden’s visit to Dearborn, Michigan. From what we can see, the pickup truck will feature a full-width LED light bar, a unique front grille, as well as a set aerodynamic wheels. #Ford #F150 #F150Lightning pic.twitter.com/fugGTCr7hN

— Cole Marzen (@cole_marzen) May 18, 2021

Recently, transportation became the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in the US. Biden’s recently announced updated NDC to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by half within ten years will require significant changes to policy. “To hit Biden’s new target, federal fuel economy regulations need to be dramatically tightened. Starting as soon as possible. Without this, the targets won’t be hit”, said Bloomberg New Energy Finance’s Colin Mckerracher.

Ketan Joshi

Ketan Joshi has been at the forefront of clean energy for eight years, starting out as a data analyst working in wind energy, and expanding that knowledge base to community engagement, climate science and new energy technology. He writes for The Driven’s parent site, RenewEconomy, and has also written for the Guardian, The Monthly, ABC News and has penned several hundred blog posts digging into climate and energy issues, building a position as a respected and analytical energy commentator in Australia. He’s spoken at the Ethics Centre IQ2 debates on the need for urgent decarbonisation, he’s served as an subject matter expert on national television, and has a wide following on social media around energy and climate.

Share 43
Tweet 0
Share 0
Share 0
Share 0
Share 0
Share 0
Share 0
Share 0
Get the free daily newsletter

I agree to the Terms of Use

Trending posts
  • Source: Hyundai Drivers frustrated as Hyundai Ioniq 5 sells out again within minutes posted on May 18, 2022
  • Hyundai Ioniq 5. Image: Riz Akhtar Used Model 3 and Ioniq 5 are now worth more than brand new posted on May 17, 2022
  • Volvo XC40 Recharge. Source: Volvo Volvo cancels Australian XC40 electric SUV orders after production falls short posted on May 19, 2022
  • atto 3 Extended Range Atto 3 accounts for nine out of 10 BYD EV orders posted on May 20, 2022
EV Explainers
  • Charging battery of an electric car - optimised EastLink The top ten electric vehicle myths that need to be debunked posted on November 3, 2021
  • tesla model 3 charging Which electric car delivers the best driving range for your dollar? posted on May 3, 2022
  • Polestar 2. Image: Bridie Schmidt Thinking of buying an electric car? Here’s your essential EV holiday reading posted on December 21, 2021
  • tesla charging Where can you charge a Tesla or other electric car for free? posted on February 27, 2022
Emissions counter
  • EV News
    • Electric Cars
    • EV Conversions
    • Electric Boats
    • Electric Bikes
    • Electric Flight
    • Electric Transport
    • Electric Work Vehicles
    • Hydrogen Fuel Cell
    • Charging
    • Policy
  • EV Explainers
  • EV Conference
  • EV Models
  • EV Sales
  • Road Trips
  • Multimedia

the driven electric vehicle podcast

Get the free daily newsletter

I agree to the Terms of Use

Follow The Driven on Socials
The Driven
  • About The Driven
  • Get in Touch
  • Advertise
  • Terms of Use
  • Privacy Policy
  • Feedback
X
Aust's only instant solar & battery comparator. Since 2008.
Solar Choice

Input your search keywords and press Enter.