Powering the future: Assessment of U.S. light-duty vehicle battery manufacturing jobs by 2032

The shift to electric vehicles (EVs) continues to gain momentum, increasing the demand for batteries. This boom presents an opportunity for the United States to develop and strengthen its battery supply chain while creating tens of thousands of jobs across the battery production process.

This paper projects that the growing U.S. battery industry will create 84,000 to 125,000 domestic jobs by 2032. The projection stems from an analysis of a jobs-per-gigawatt-hour (GWh) ratio for producing battery packs and cell components for light-duty vehicles (LDVs) and for recycling batteries. The jobs per GWh are then scaled according to U.S. domestic production scenarios. These scenarios are based on the estimated growth in EV sales based on the federal emission standards, as well as on news releases and other announcements made by companies planning to invest in U.S. battery production or recycling.

The analysis makes the following additional conclusions:

• The EV transition will increase demand for batteries, but U.S. announced capacity to produce batteries might grow even faster.
• Battery pack production could require around 95 workers per GWh, while battery cell component production and recycling could employ another 49 workers per GWh.
• There is the potential to create even more jobs by increased domestic production of battery cell components and recycling to match the EV battery pack demand. There are additional opportunities in construction and upstream supply chain – such as mining, material extraction, and refining—and induced jobs in communities where batteries are made.
• Continuing federal and automaker support could help attract, retain, and retrain skilled workers for the new battery manufacturing roles

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