Amazon, Google, Wells Fargo make first investments towards meeting Biden's EV goals

The White House on Thursday announced the first set of public and private sector investments towards its electric vehicle (EV) acceleration challenge, which includes investments from companies like Amazon, Google and Wells Fargo.

President Biden’s goal is to have 50 percent of all new vehicle sales be electric by 2030 and the challenge involved a call to action to stakeholders to support the transition.

One major investment comes from Amazon, which is set to announce it has rolled out over 3,000 electric delivery vehicles as part of its commitment to bring 100,000 electric delivery vehicles to the road by 2030, according to the White House.

The private sector investments come alongside an announcement from the federal government that agencies have acquired 13,000 light- and medium-duty zero emission vehicles (ZEVs) in Fiscal Year 2023, which is roughly four times the number acquired in Fiscal Year 2022. Biden’s EV plan requires federal agencies to acquire 100 percent light-duty ZEVs annually by 2027 and acquire 100 percent medium- and heavy-duty ZEVs annually by 2035.

Other investments come from Hertz, which will announce it is committing to substantially increase its electric vehicle rentals this year and is forecasting nearly two million EV rentals in 2023. That is about five times the number of EV rentals in 2022.

Additionally, Google and Wells Fargo are announcing they will support the challenge through tools and resources.

Google will provide up-to-date information about availability and coverage of tax credits across eligible passenger vehicles with a new search tool and Wells Fargo will release a new tool to support business leaders transitioning to electric vehicle fleets. Additionally, Consumer Reports is committing to delivering advice and information for people who are considering whether to make the shift to an electric vehicle through its new online tool.

A non-profit, Rewiring America, is also set to launch an online personal electrification planner in 2023 with the initial goal of helping 100,000 homeowners and renters create roadmaps to electrify their homes and choose electric vehicles.

There are currently over three million EVs on the road and over 132,000 public EV chargers across the U.S., according to the White House. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law devoted $7.5 billion for electric vehicle chargers.