Testimony before U.S. Senate Budget Committee Hearing:
“Charging Ahead: The Future of Electric Vehicles”
Opening statement (as prepared for delivery)
By David Schwietert
Thank you for the invitation to share my perspective on the U.S. electric vehicle market and policies to help accelerate this transition.
Today I want to provide the auto industry perspective on the shift toward electrification and give the committee a status report on what’s working – and where there’s work to be done.
Let’s start with this: electrification is transforming personal mobility...
It’s rewriting global supply chains...
Rebuilding the domestic industrial base...
Creating jobs...
And underpinning American economic and national security in fundamental ways.
Today, 113 electrified sedans, pickups, utility vehicle and van models are for sale in the U.S.
This includes battery electric, plug-in hybrid and fuel cell electric vehicles. There’s also increasingly efficient internal combustion engine technologies.
Lots of choices in powertrain and vehicle type – something for sale that meets the needs of every customer.
Choice is a priority for automakers.
Last year, 9.5 percent of new U.S. light-duty vehicle sales were electric or zero emission – up from 2.4 percent in 2020.
Even with this major momentum, we’re in a challenging period.
Yes, the EV market is still growing, but that growth is slowing.
One reason: most EV early adopters have already adopted the technology. Spikes in EV demand – or choppy growth – isn’t surprising.
In our view, this massive transition is a marathon – not a sprint.
Shifting to electric personal mobility requires nothing short of a complete transformation of the global automotive industrial base.
And the companies I represent are self-funding this transition. They’ve committed over $125 billion to EV production and battery manufacturing across the country… so far.
This is expected to create 100,000 jobs at major facilities in South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky, Kansas, Indiana and other states.
My written testimony includes a map of these cutting-edge facilities all over the Midwest and Southeast.
Senators: we’re building these vehicles and localizing these supply chains – here at home. Right now.
But the truth is, these massive capital allocations are funded using profits generated from gas-powered vehicles.
Automakers know a shift on this scale won’t happen overnight.
This transition will take time and patience.
And it’s important for the committee and policymakers to understand these dynamics as well.
Collectively, we can’t get too far ahead of the customer.
Especially while we are expanding public charging infrastructure...
Or expanding electric grid capacity, or the global supply chain of critical minerals and raw materials.
Finding the right balance – between markets and regulations and policy – is absolutely key to remaining globally competitive.
Let me make one observation about supply chains.
This is partially a point about geopolitics, namely China, that controls a vast amount of raw materials and processing capacity for EV batteries.
By 2035, the U.S. is anticipated to have supply gaps in excess of 50 percent of the needed cathode and anode materials – nickel, cobalt, manganese and graphite.
At the same time, America’s allies and rivals are trying to secure the same mineral supplies to support their own electrification goals.
Domestic mining and processing facilities face long lead times for permitting and development and other obstacles.
This is an area where I believe Congressional attention and action is needed.
One last point on China and U.S. competitiveness:
At the turn of the century, China was manufacturing around 2 million vehicles.
Today, they manufacture 30 million vehicles and have capacity for nearly 50 million units. Nearly one-third of that production was for EVs.
In other words, China is manufacturing EVs equivalent to the entire manufacturing output of the U.S. auto industry.
Without question, the future offers consumers more vehicle choices than ever before.
But we’ve got some challenges in front of us.
The auto industry and policymakers need a shared and realistic vision of success when it comes to automotive electrification.
Regardless of political views, or what state you live in, we need an approach in this country that balances emissions reductions and customer choice, expands our industrial base and America’s ability to compete around the world.
Thank you.
David Schwietert is Chief Government Affairs and Policy Officer at Alliance for Automotive Innovation