Electric vehicle-related jobs and investments on a steady path of growth in the United States

As the U.S. celebrated the second anniversary of the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), the U.S. markets for electric vehicle and battery manufacturing spurred by the law reached new heights.

A new report by Environmental Defense Fund and WSP USA shows that electric vehicle (EV) manufacturing investments over the last nine years has now reached $199 billion – and 63% of that came after passage of the IRA.

Manufacturers have announced 201,900 U.S. EV-related jobs linked to that investment. EV and battery manufacturing could also generate up to 931,000 additional jobs in the broader economy.

"Thanks largely to supportive federal policies like the Inflation Reduction Act, America is still seeing strong, steady growth in electric vehicle and battery manufacturing,” says Ellen Robo, manager of transportation and clean air policy at Environmental Defense Fund. “Americans are benefitting from hundreds of thousands of new U.S. jobs building the zero-emitting cars of the future – cars that will give buyers more choices at the dealership, save families money on fuel and maintenance, give us all cleaner and healthier air, and help protect us from climate change.”

The report, U.S. Electric Vehicle Manufacturing Investments and Jobs: Characterizing the Impacts of the Inflation Reduction Act after 2 Years, summarizes the significant private investments in manufacturing EVs, EV components, EV batteries, EV battery components, and EV battery recycling over the last nine years. This is the third update to an original report issued in March of 2023.

The report finds that “U.S. investments, jobs, and production capacity will likely continue to grow in response to strong federal investments and incentives. Global EV and battery manufacturers have announced aggressive and sustained investment needs worldwide to support the EV transition over the next decade.”

Other key takeaways include:

• Concrete investment in U.S. EV and EV battery manufacturing facilities has grown another $11 billion since the report was last updated in March of this year and has now reached $199 billion.
• Federal policies have dramatically expanded and accelerated these investments. 63% of announced EV investments occurred in the last 24 months since passage of the Inflation Reduction Act and 83% occurred in the last 33 months since passage of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Investment has also been spurred by more than $29 billion in federal, state and local incentives.
• Manufacturers have now announced 201,900 U.S. EV-related jobs. Federal investments and incentives that are specifically designed to onshore the EV manufacturing supply chain have substantially expanded and accelerated those new job announcements.
• In 2027, U.S. EV manufacturing facilities will be capable of producing approximately 5.8 million new electric vehicles annually. That’s the equivalent of 36% of all vehicles sold in the U.S. in 2023.
• In 2028, U.S. battery manufacturing facilities will be capable of producing 1,164 gigawatt hours of EV batteries. That’s enough to supply batteries for 13.2 million new electric passenger vehicles each year.

Georgia and Michigan are still the leading states in the U.S. for both EV investments and new jobs, followed by North Carolina (for investments) and Tennessee (for jobs).

Ten states now have more than $10 billion in investments and/or more than 10,000 new EV-related jobs: in addition to the four just mentioned they are Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Nevada, Ohio, and South Carolina.

Another eight states have gotten between $1 billion and $5 billion in EV investments and related jobs: Alabama, Arizona, California, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, New York, and Texas.

The report also highlights examples of five widespread trends in the U.S. EV markets:

• Massive investments in new EV plants are nearing completion, which looks at Ford’s BlueOval plants in Tennessee and Kentucky.
• EV manufacturing hubs bring new suppliers and jobs to American communities, which looks at suppliers who are building facilities near Hyundai’s Metaplant America in Georgia.
• Investments in EV trucks and buses are rising, illustrated by Daimler Trucks, PACCAR, and Cummins creating an EV battery manufacturing plant specifically for heavy-duty EVs in Mississippi that will be the largest of its kind in North America.
• EV manufacturing breathes new life into existing plants, which looks at plants that are getting a second life as EV facilities, including GM’s Grand River Assembly Plant in Michigan.
• Facilities are building the next generation of battery technology, which looks at plants in Arizona and Colorado that are at the forefront of creating batteries that will be cheaper, lighter, and made from materials that are easier to source.

You can read the full report here.

EDF and WSP’s earlier analyses are here: March 2023, August 2023, and March 2024.