Electric vehicle manufacturing may slash auto parts trade in the US Midwest

The race to build electric cars in the United States intensifies as new rounds of investment emerge from Washington. workers in The former heart of the auto industry Fear of being left behind.

“When we look carefully at what’s going on on the factory floor, there are not going to be fewer workers,” Keith Cooley, the former president of the Michigan Department of Labor, told CNBC. “There will be different people making cars.”

Researchers believe that modern factory jobs will require more education and may be less available than in the past. They estimate that electric cars may require 30% less manufacturing labor than conventional cars. “The lines that run to run oil or gas around the internal combustion engine will not be there,” Cooley said.

This change may affect parts suppliers to the auto industry, many of which are concentrated near Midwestern cities such as Kokomo, Indiana; Lima, Ohio; and Detroit, Michigan.

Sania Carly, a professor at Indiana University and a contributor to Artificial heart Study, for CNBC. “So the fate of these companies is inextricably linked with the fate of societies.”

Leaders in Washington are hoping with two major legislation, Inflation reduction law And the Chips Law, signed by President Joe Biden in August, will provide a bridge to that future. These laws allow for billions of incentives for companies seeking to manufacture clean energy.

With financing in the pipeline, automakers are now wondering how quickly demand for electric vehicles will be met. In 2021, 9% of global car sales were electric carsAccording to the International Energy Agency.

watch the video Learn more about how the electric car revolution is affecting the economies of states across the US Midwest.