Bipartisan infrastructure bill passes US Senate with billions for EV charging network
The bill now heads to the House of Representatives, but once it reaches President Biden's desk, it will create a national EV charging network.
The bill moves on to the House now.
On Tuesday morning, the US Senate passed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, better known as the bipartisan infrastructure bill. After weeks of negotiations between Republicans and Democrats, the two sides moved forward with the bill, which would spend $1.2 trillion on physical infrastructure, climate change and more. For the auto industry, this legislation would create a monumental shift for electric cars with the creation of a national EV charging network.
Specifically, the bill includes $7.5 billion to create charging stations all across the US, which would inevitably help spur EV adoption in the country. In addition, the bill includes another $7.5 billion to transition buses and other public transportation away from fossil fuels and to zero-emission options. Further, $66 billion goes to Amtrak to fund a backlog of repairs, and to help expand routes across the US.
Ford, which agreed to a voluntary EV pact with the Biden administration, reacted to the passage positively and said in a statement, "Ford applauds this bipartisan step to make long overdue investments in our nation's infrastructure and accelerate the transition to a zero emissions transportation future. We're committed to leading the electric vehicle revolution and doing our part by investing tens of billions of dollars in EVs, including with fully electric versions of our most iconic and popular vehicles"
Outside of transportation, the legislation spends $65 billion to bring high-speed internet access to all Americans and funds efforts to battle climate change.
With the final vote of 69 to 30 in the Senate, the bill heads to the House of Representatives before officially landing on President Biden's desk for a signature. Senate Democrats will now focus on a $3.5 trillion bill that looks closer at "human infrastructure." Programs in the future legislation, to be passed along party lines under the budget reconciliation process, include education, child care, health care and we may even see EV subsidies tucked in after the bipartisan bill struck them out.
