Yellen touts electric vehicle 'boom' as automakers tone down hype

• Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said President Joe Biden's Inflation Reduction Act has spurred a "boom" in the sector.
• Automakers like Ford and General Motors are cooling down their expectations for EV consumer demand after years of excitement around the sector, according to a new CNBC report.
• Biden has also reportedly reined in his EV push, extending the deadline for aggressive restrictions on greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Wednesday lauded President Joe Biden's investment in electric vehicles for accelerating the sector, even as the industry cools off from its years-long hot streak.

Yellen touted Biden's EV actions in Kentucky at a new $49 million EV battery factory built by Advanced Nano Parts, a battery supplier that will receive tax credits from Biden's Inflation Reduction Act for the new clean energy facility.

"It's part of a boom in EV-related investments in Kentucky," Yellen said. "The Biden Administration's policies and federal funds are fueling private sector investments."

The secretary's EV bullishness comes as the private sector tempers its mood on all-electric vehicles.

According to a recent CNBC report, major automakers that had eagerly set deadlines for their all-electric car transitions, like Ford and General Motors, are now cooling their expectations, shifting to more of a wait-and-see attitude rather than adhering to a tight EV conversion timeline.

The initial investor excitement around EVs was spurred in part by cheap money from low-interest rates, as well as Biden's IRA, which introduced tax credits for both consumers who purchased all-electric vehicles and for the companies that produced them.

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