Promoting US Electric Vehicle, Joe Biden Try To Test Drive Electric Hummer

US President Joe Biden in a press statement about the electric vehicle program. (photo: twitter screenshot)

JAKARTA - US President Joe Biden got behind the wheel of an electric Hummer on Wednesday November 17 and drove with squeaky tires. He did this on a test drive to showcase the results of the government's billion-dollar investment into electric vehicles.

"Anyone wants to jump in the back, or on the roof?" Biden asked reporters after making several rounds at the General Motors plant, as quoted by Reuters. "This sucker is something else!"

Biden, a Democrat, signed the $1 trillion Infrastructure Bill into law last Monday. While public confidence ratings in him have fallen, he is eager to promote the bill as a fulfillment of promises he made as a presidential candidate in the 2020 election for the White House.

Like I said, I’m a car guy. https://t.co/zc5qkQB7bi

— President Biden (@POTUS) November 17, 2021

The law, passed with support from both Democrats and Republicans, provides $7.5 billion to build an electric vehicle charging network across the United States. It's the network investment that the vehicle industry says will inspire more Americans to buy electric vehicles, and manufacturers are happier to produce them.

It provides money to build EV chargers along highway corridors and within communities to help facilitate long-distance and local travel.

Biden highlighted the investment during a visit to General Motors Co.'s electric vehicle assembly plant in Detroit, Michigan's largest city, a state where the main political battleground in US elections is always going on.

"The president will deliver a speech on how the law "builds electric vehicle charging stations across the country to make it easier to drive electric vehicles, reduce emissions to combat the climate crisis, and create well-paying union jobs across the country," the spokesperson said. The White House said in a statement.

A broad transition to electric cars and trucks will help the United States meet Biden's pledge to reduce US greenhouse gas emissions by 50% from 2005 levels by 2030.

Tune in as I deliver remarks on how the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law will create a future made in America and build electric vehicle charging stations across the country. https://t.co/NqmKt8GYa0

— President Biden (@POTUS) November 17, 2021

Democrats are working on a separate social and climate spending bill that contains a tax credit of up to $12,500 for U.S.-made EVs, including a $4,500 credit for union-made vehicles.

The bill is a key pillar of Biden's domestic agenda but faces hurdles of escaping the still-battling views of progressive and moderate lawmakers in his party.