[Auto] What Biden means for the auto industry, from dirty jobs to clean air

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President-elect Joe Biden played a central role as vice president during the Obama administration, pulling together a task force that is widely credited with saving General Motors and the then-Chrysler, along with as many as 1 million American automotive jobs. Looking forward, the fast-evolving transportation industry is expected to play a central role in Biden's plan for economic recovery.

Biden has already signaled his goal of addressing a number of issues central to the auto industry — including trade, infrastructure, and electric and autonomous vehicles — that will reshape the transportation world in the years ahead.

One of his key campaign promises calls for the creation of 1 million new jobs, in everything from new and improved roads to EV charging stations.

Biden’s win could especially benefit companies who focus on green and emission-free technologies.

"Traditional automakers with largely union workforces would likely be among the biggest winners from tax incentives that would further stimulate the production and consumption of EVs," Garrett Nelson, a senior automotive analyst with CFRA Research, wrote in a research note.

Electrified vehicles will play an increasingly critical role in the industry, with dozens of new all-electric models, from the Ford Mustang Mach-E to the Tesla Cybertruck, due out over the next two years.

Biden’s support for clean energy and, in particular, electrified vehicles, is one area in which he and President Donald Trump have most sharply disagreed. The Trump administration has been indifferent, at most, to cleaner vehicles, rejecting mostly Democratic calls to expand the $7,500 federal EV incentives and even suggesting the current program should be eliminated.

Biden supports an expansion, something Nelson sees as “the most impactful part of his (transportation) plan.” Biden also wants to create a nationwide charging infrastructure to address so-called “range anxiety,” one of the key obstacles to widespread public acceptance of plug-based vehicles. There currently are 27,021 charging stations, according to the U.S. Department of Energy, largely along the coasts. Biden envisions 500,000, spread across every part of the country.

Biden has indicated his intentions of rejoining the Paris climate accord, which Trump dropped, and is expected to reverse other moves made under the soon-ending administration. That includes a rollback of the Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards set in place under Obama.

Clean energy was central to Biden’s campaign and his promise to fund renewable sources like solar and wind would make charging stations more likely to deliver zero-emission energy.

Underscoring his environmental stand, Mary Nichols is reportedly under consideration to be Biden's pick to lead the Environmental Protection Agency. She currently heads the California Air Resources Board that has pushed through tough emissions standards and rules calling for rapid growth in EV sales.

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