The Head-to-Head Battle Between Traditional Cars and EVs
The Ford Mustang Mach-E GT. (Photo Courtesy: Ford)
Can the EV industry compete head to head with the massive traditional car industry in terms of job creations?
By: Jessica Lin
With the rise of attention to climate change, every industry has tried to electrify its products - especially the automotive industry and every car manufacturer from Ford to BMW is trying to electrify their entire fleet of vehicles. By going electric, will the creation of new jobs follow the US OEMs?
With major components of EV produced in foreign countries, the steadfast creation of jobs in the EV industry could be threatened. Though many car manufacturers are trying to fund battery cell production within the states, it is still not enough to challenge the numerous jobs created by foreign factories of battery cells. To ensure that the EV industry creates more jobs, government assistance and intervention are needed to promote fair wages and job creation.
The Biden administration is continuing the development of installing more charging stations all over the United States. With the promise of installing 500,000 charging stations, the Biden administration has promised almost 30,000 new “high-quality jobs, fair wages, and safe working conditions through its investments.” The administration is going to put in $20 million to expedite the process of creating more commercially available plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs). All of these projects will accelerate clean energy jobs. Jobs such as planning and design, general contracting, utility line work.
Though the Biden administration is setting the bar for electrifying the car industry with more job opportunities, California is setting ablaze the trail for more job creation. Reaching its 2030 “Light-Duty” (passenger) goals, 1000 new jobs are created in legal, 5170 in administrative, 13,320 jobs for electricians and so on, all of which concludes in almost 63,000 new jobs for by 2030, which doubles the jobs created promised by the Biden administration.
All of this is great and new, however, the EV industry compared to the overpowering and large capacity of the traditional car market, still cannot compare to the job creations of the traditional car industry. For instance, car industry experts have predicted that Ford, GM, and FCA US are going to create almost 34,000 new jobs over the course of four years starting in 2020. These 34,000 new jobs will support almost 300,000 indirect jobs in the process at Ford, GM, and FCA US manufacturing plants.
A typical auto plant employs nearly 2,000 to 3,000 workers. Each assembly plant job supports nearly seven other jobs with suppliers. A single plant produces almost 200,000 vehicles each year which can contribute nearly $6 billion to the US’s gross domestic product. All of which together, these plants and manufacturing factories employ more than 871,000 U.S. workers. EVs have a long way to go in order to beat the traditional car market in terms of job creations and sales.
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