Biden elevates Ford, GM, and now Siemens — but not Tesla — in big EV push

When President Biden wanted to talk about building electric vehicle chargers as part of his “Made in America” initiative last week, he turned to the U.S. wing of a German technology conglomerate.

It was Siemens USA CEO Barbara Humpton who was on stage with the president on Friday to announce $54 million in new investments, including a new plant that promises to be a centerpiece of the company's efforts to produce over a million EV chargers in the U.S. over the next four years.

The prominent placement puts Siemens (SIE.TI) alongside U.S. companies like Ford (F) and GM (GM) as Biden’s preferred corporate faces to help achieve its ambitious EV goals. The administration wants half of all cars sold in the U.S. to be electric by 2030 with a network of 500,000 public charging stations up and running to match. And still largely on the outside — of the DC party at least — is Tesla (TSLA) and CEO Elon Musk.

“We're working with everyone,” Humpton assured during a Yahoo Finance Live interview Friday after being asked about Musk specifically. “We have a 360 degree relationship with auto manufacturers.”

Siemens works with auto makers on everything from providing the circuitry inside of electric vehicles to the charging stations once the new cars are on the road, she said. Siemens recently announced a direct partnership with Ford to collaborate on their Ford Charge Station Pro home chargers.

Humpton visited the White House to discuss a range of investments, including upgrades to facilities in Texas and California that produce electrical equipment. She says her company's mission is to "build the electric infrastructure that is going to make all of this possible," as the economy shifts to different energy sources. Siemens aims to "get power to all of the new devices that are coming online," she said.

Humpton heads up the U.S. side of Siemens, the largest market for the Munich-based conglomerate, which generated revenue of $17 billion during the 2020 fiscal year. The Siemens USA Headquarters is located in Washington: Humpton also forged ties with the previous administration, appearing multiple times at events with Ivanka Trump.

As Biden noted when he spoke Friday, the U.S. federal government is Siemens’ largest customer.

‘Our nation’s largest electric vehicle manufacturer’

It was also during Biden’s speech Friday that he mentioned Tesla publicly for just the second time since taking office. He again noted how the company is “our nation’s largest electric vehicle manufacturer” alongside the “iconic companies” Ford and GM. Biden’s first public mention of Tesla came earlier in February.

In other contexts — such as the State of the Union address — Ford and GM got a mention while Tesla was omitted, a trend that Musk has often taken issue with.

Musk’s stance on unionization has been at the root of much of the tension. Unlike the workforces at Ford and GM, the Tesla workforce is not unionized. Musk recently opened the door to a possible union vote at Tesla, leading Labor Secretary Marty Walsh to note on Yahoo Finance Friday that he’s open to a conversation on the topic.

In its announcement, Siemens went as far as to note which locals from the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers would benefit from the forthcoming expansion. Friday was Humpton’s second visit to the White House since Biden’s inauguration. She also joined for the signing of the bipartisan infrastructure law last November. Ford CEO Jim Farley and General Motors CEO Mary Barra snagged at least three interactions with Biden in 2021 alone.

Musk, on the other hand, has yet to visit the White House since Biden's inauguration but recently promised to “do the right thing” if invited. He has criticized charging station efforts, though.

"Do we need support for gas stations? We don't," Musk said during an appearance at The Wall Street Journal’s CEO Council Summit last year. "There's no need for support for a charging network. I would delete it. Delete."

'Help in this transformation that's happening'

Currently, Biden officials say the private sector has built around 100,000 public charging stations in the United States, many of which are mapped online. The Biden administration recently announced details of how it plans to spend $7.5 billion set aside in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law for EV additional stations.

Two-thirds of the money, $5 billion, will go towards state-level programs to install chargers along the major roadways in their state. The administration hopes to have stations less than 50 miles apart in most instances with a focus on direct current stations to charge at least multiple cars simultaneously and quickly. The remaining $2.5 billion will go towards a grant program that officials promise more detail on later in the year.

Siemens is positioned to capitalize on the coming surge of spending, and Humpton touted her company’s local connections during Friday’s Yahoo Finance interview. “Siemens has 40,000 employees in all 50 states. We're doing business with 100 cities across the United States, bringing together experts in electrification and digitalization so that we really can help in this transformation that's happening,” she said.

Ben Werschkul is a writer and producer for Yahoo Finance in Washington, DC.

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