WASHINGTON — The United States must work with allies to secure the minerals needed for electric vehicle batteries and process them domestically in light of environmental and other competing interests, the White House said on Tuesday.
The strategy, first reported by Reuters in late May, will include new funding to expand international investments in electric vehicles (EV) metal projects through the U.S. Development Finance Corporation, as well as new efforts to boost supply from recycling batteries.
President Joe Biden’s administration will also launch a working group to identify where minerals used in EV batteries and other technologies can be produced and processed domestically. It was not immediately clear what that meant for existing EV minerals projects.
Securing enough copper, lithium and other raw materials to make EV batteries is a major obstacle to Biden’s aggressive EV adoption plans, with domestic mines facing extensive regulatory hurdles and environmental opposition.
The White House acknowledged China’s role as the world’s largest processor of EV metals and said it would expand efforts to lessen that dependency.
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