Boost for batteries

Washington: The Biden administration will allocate more than $US3 billion ($NZ4.7 billion) in infrastructure funding to finance electric vehicle (EV) battery manufacturing, US officials said yesterday.

The funds will be allocated by the Department of Energy from the

$US1 trillion infrastructure Bill President Joe Biden signed last year. Among the initiatives will be processing of minerals for use in largecapacity batteries and recycling those batteries, the agency said.

Biden wants half of vehicles sold in the US to be electric by 2030, a goal he hopes will boost unionised manufacturing jobs in key election battleground states, thwart Chinese competition in a fastgrowing market, and reduce climatechanging carbon emissions. — Reuters