Electric Cars Create US Jobs

Written by Bryan Johannsen

With unemployment rising over the 10% mark in the US, one thing our econonmy desparately needs is new jobs. While manufacturing overall has taken a down turn in the United States the fledgling electric car market stands poised to create jobs in that sector.

The Department of Energy has released $11 billion in loans to Ford and Nissan for their efforts in creating electric cars as well as providing loans to smaller electric car companies Tesla Motors and Fisker Automotive.

Ford and Nissan will surely use existing facilities to produce their electric vehicles and the governemnt loans as well as vehicle production will keep workers working in the ailing US auto industry. Tesla and Fisker will be using the loan money to create new production facilities.

In Delaware Fisker is purchasing a closed down GM plant to produce a plug in hybrid codenamed Nina and their luxury Karma PHEV sports sedan. Fisker is reportedly purchasing the plant for 18 million and will spend $175 million repurposing it for their vehicles. Any jobs created to refurbish the plant will of course be temporary but for a lot of people a temporary job is better than no job at all. Some will of course stay on at whatever comapny does the work on the plant.

Fisker has committed to making the plant "a union shop, so we are expecting union wages," said Kerry Kryspin, a trustee of UAW Local 435, so expect the workers there to make in the area of $28 an hour with the extensive benefits the UAW requires of automakers.

The Deleware plant ceased production in July so expect some of the workers laid off in that shutdown to be back to work producing green cars once the plant is up and running.

Tesla will be using their share of taxpayer money to build their more affordable, all electric Model S sedan which will create some manufacturing jobs and on the other end of production Tesla is opening showrooms in Chicago, New York, Miami, Seattle and Washington DC providing employment for sales, service and all the other jobs a car dealership provides. Alongside the California based Model S prodction plant Tesla plans on using some of the loan money to create a battery manufacturing facilty, also in California.

From construction to manufacturing to sales and service these US based companies are going to be creating jobs in an economy that sorely needs them, we wish them the best of luck.

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