On Wednesday, senior Biden administration officials held a meeting with a number of auto industry company leaders to discuss issues related to the U. S. electric vehicle charging network.
It is worth mentioning that this time, not only GM, Ford CEO, and others were present, but also some unexpected Tesla CEO Musk, who always "did not deal with" the Biden government.
Musk showed up unexpectedly
As we all know, Musk has been at odds with the White House. On the one hand, when Biden mentioned US electric car companies in his speeches, he often avoided mentioning Tesla-even though Tesla is already the largest electric car company in the United States, and Biden never visited any of Tesla's facilities in the United States. or meet publicly with Musk; on the other hand, Musk often criticizes Biden on Twitter.
In February, Mr Biden publicly acknowledged Tesla's role in the US electric car manufacturing industry after Mr Musk repeatedly complained that he had been ignored by the Biden administration.
Musk's appearance at a meeting organized by the US government may mark a gradual easing of relations between the two sides.
In addition to Musk, auto industry leaders such as General Motors CEO Mary Barra, Ford CEO Jim Farley, Chrysler parent Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares, Lucid CEO Peter Rawlinson and Nissan America Chairman Jeremie Papin attended the meeting.
On the government side, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Peter Butigig (Pete Buttigieg), Energy Secretary Jennifer Granhom (Jennifer Granholm), national climate adviser Genna McCarthy (Gina McCarthy) and infrastructure coordinator Mitch Landrow (Mitch Landrieu) also attended the meeting.
In addition, Hyundai Motor USA, Subaru USA, Mazda North America, Toyota North America, Mercedes-Benz USA and Kia also participated in the event.
The US government promotes the construction of a charging network.
One of the themes of the meeting was to discuss the creation of a national network of 500000 charging stations for the United States.
"there is a broad consensus that charging stations and vehicles need to work together to provide a seamless user experience, no matter what car you drive or where you charge the electric car," the US government said in a statement. "
Biden has been promoting the development of electric vehicles in the United States since taking office, and the meeting is also one of the measures taken by the Biden administration to promote electric vehicles.
Congress approved $7.5 billion in government funding last year for the construction of charging stations for electric vehicles.
Last week, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) unveiled the strictest new vehicle emissions rules in history, requiring new cars sold in the United States to have an average mileage of at least 49 miles per gallon by 2026. American automakers have generally expressed support for the new rules.
The Automotive Innovation Alliance (Alliance for Automotive Innovation), which represents almost all major carmakers, said the EPA rules "will challenge the industry as a whole", but it wants to ensure that "key regulatory provisions that support electric vehicle technology are retained".
Valero Energy, the energy company, said EPA's new emissions rules "effectively force automakers to produce and sell electric cars, not internal combustion engines."
