Ford reported that it’s going to lose $3 billion on electric cars in 2023.
Unlike most automakers, Ford reports its electric vehicle numbers separately, but experts estimate that most car companies are losing similar amounts on the dead end business.
Ford’s investment in Rivian’s electric cars can’t be helping. Last year the startup electric pickup truck maker was spending $220,000 to make the electric vehicles that it sells for $81,000.
That’s bad news for George Soros and for CalPERS: California’s massive public employees retirement fund and a ticking time bomb which owns hundreds of thousands of shares in Rivian.
GM and Ford both project that their electric cars will be profitable in a few years. Ford plans to make 2 million electric cars every year by 2025. That would be impressive considering that Ford only sold 61,575 of them in 2022. It sold 3,624 electric vehicles in Feb 2023.
That’s a long way from 2 million.
GM plans to sell 1 million electric cars by 2025. It sold less than 40,000 in 2022.
Projections like these might make sense if GM and Ford had hot products and untapped market demand. Instead there are too many electric car models chasing a tiny market. Electric car sales have yet to break the million mark. Most of the electric car activity continues to be concentrated in the luxury SUV market which only has so many buyers able to afford them.
Even the “affordable” electric cars, like GM’s Bolt, start at $30,000, and lose as much as $9,000 for the company.
The only way to create demand for electric cars is through government mandates.
After 2035, if you want to buy a new car in California, it’s electric cars or it’s nothing. California’s mandates that fined car manufacturers, forcing them to buy credits from electric car makers like Tesla, financed the electric car industry. By 2035, California will simply eliminate the competition.
New York, New Jersey, Oregon and Washington have also moved to ban the sale of new cars. About a dozen Democrat states have similarly decided to prevent residents from buying cars. Virginia’s House voted to drop its car ban, but the state’s Senate Democrats have kept it in place. Biden has proposed a similar ban nationwide following its adoption by the EU.
By 2040, GM expects to stop making and selling cars on the assumption of such a ban.
George Soros has reportedly lost over $1 billion with his Rivian investment, and his other electric car investments may seem shaky, but in the long term the leftist politicians he has backed are expected to eliminate the competition and clear cars off the roads and highways.
Automakers are spending billions to build electric cars that no one wants and no one can afford because governments have assured them of a captive market. And after all that money flushed down the drain, their lobbyists are aggressively pressuring legislators to impose new bans and keep the existing bans in place. They’ve also been seduced with the promise of subsidies and tax credits that will free them from the pedestrian business of actually turning a profit.
Woke pension funds and party donors have kept the pressure on to see that it pays off.
Detroit’s bet that customers will just accept this as the new normal and just pay higher prices for worse performance is a bad one. The electric car mandates are the work of a Democrat party that is closely tied to a wealthy elite even as Republicans are becoming a working class party. Assuming that half the country will just accept being priced out of the car market when car ownership remains the key to economic and social mobility is as arrogant as it is clueless.
Even assuming that Republicans remain too dysfunctional and outmaneuvered to significantly roll back the leftist agenda, the new car market will drastically shrink. Americans, like Cubans, will desperately work to keep old cars going because for much of the country they will be the only option. The number of illegal cars on the road will dramatically increase. But as brownouts and energy shortages continue to hammer California and other blue states that have also gone all-in on solar and wind power, those will be the only cars that can actually remain on the road.
Woke car companies will have their monopoly handed to them only to find that it’s worthless.
Like their former European counterparts, American automakers will become even more deeply entangled with the government. The inverse spiral of subsidies and sales will climax in bankruptcies. Detroit has failed to innovate and electric car theater is no substitute for actually doing the work to make the cars that people want rather than the ones ad agencies try to make them want.
Letting government mandates instead of consumer demand drive sales is embraced by companies that have given up on even trying to make an appealing product. If electric vehicles were legitimately popular, it wouldn’t take a ban on cars to make them economically viable.
American automakers used to be revolutionary, now they’re the regime.
Oren says
Meanwhile the new hybrids get double the gas milage of the non hybrid cars of america get, which makes up over 95% of american cars. For the same sized car. The russians, the chinese, the latinos, and even the indians will laugh at the americans and europeans who ride bikes to work, getting beat up on public transport, or walking. They will enjoy low gas prices for decades with the west radically reducing their consumption.
The Japanese know this, saying we want to make ‘options’ available to our customers. America says they want to go to war with china, to slow down the threat their ascension represents, but they believe that environmental agreements will be maintained after war breaks out. Good luck with that. In G-d I trust.
Moe Wigsoe says
Bankrupting the largest single industry (automotive–which employs directly or indirectly one in seven Americans) was always the plan.
Banastre Tarleton says
Any sensible person can see that when the lying left says they want only electric cars they really mean cars for the elites while the rest of us use the bus or ride bikes like in Amsterdam or China
Ugly Sid says
Simply destabilization aimed at destroying us. America’s Intelligence Community is at the goal line with trick plays.
Algorithmic Analyst says
Thanks Daniel, this issue has been running through my mind lately but I didn’t know what to say about it.
“like Cubans, will desperately work to keep old cars going because for much of the country they will be the only option.”
I saw that in India also, in the early 1980s. That was my immediate reaction to the electric vehicle mandates, people will go to used cars.
Mo de Profit says
In ten years time the government will be demanding that electric cars are replaced with something else that their crony friends have pumped fortunes into.
Ten years ago the UK government reduced the tax on diesel cars to ZERO to save the planet, now they want them banned.
Daniel Greenfield says
Public transport, e-bikes, forcible pooling
Algorithmic Analyst says
Thanks Mo, excellent point. Diesels can be made to run very clean. That’s actually what they were invented for.
JJR23 says
saw a story on class 8 trucks on how clean they are today that when there were 0 pollution controls , i don’t remember exactly how but it was quite better
and to run them coast to coast they would need a battery the size of the ups package car. but with cal shutting nat gas electric production while currently buying Wyoming coal generated electric and Biden targeting coal today and nat gas if god forbid he gets reelected . where will the charging electric come from since commuters and business deliveries are daytime with no sun at night
IBoat says
These company’s are lead by group think FOOLS and it will be their downfall. Trying to be popular with the political crowd doesn’t make for good business decisions or outcomes. But they get invited to the swell parties to rub elbows with the leftards.
Bill halcott says
Nah. All they have to do is survive until everybody with common sense dies off and the indoctrinated snowflakes are in the majority. At that point the auto industry will make fortunes.
Todd says
How? They are more concerned with demanding SJW concessions from their employers than working, and when they “work,” its a disaster. That’s if they even try to work. They produce nothing and have no actual skills and live in a fantasy world. When there are just snowflakes left, there won’t be a slworking society to buy anything.
Kasandra says
The battery and charging technology needed to make battery electric cars is just not there yet to make them practical and may never be. But, remember, the Left is only to be judged on its intentions, never on its results (see, e.g., LBJ’s “War on Poverty”).
Daniel Greenfield says
Declare a big enough crisis and you never have to come up with a real world plan
redbyrd says
really enjoyed the Utube video of the man who just bought a new $100,000 Ford Lightening truck. supposed to get free charging cable kit and want an extra device for charging too. found out the kit came from a different company who wouldn’t ship it until after Ford sent them the sales receipts and info. on the buyer. he spent hours trying to rush the process over the phone/twitter and found some sympathy but after all the effort it still took him over a month to get the “free” charging kit. Not happening here, NO to EV.
Duties says
This is what happens when automakers get their marching orders from communist politicians instead of the driving public.
Daniel Greenfield says
America’s Yugos are coming
Old Fogey says
Of course electric cars are bankrupting auto makers. Totalitarians hate the freedom and mobility that comes from having privately owned autos. We proles are meant to move by public transportation where and when our betters permit it.
The history of the world is unabated tyranny, with a tiny blip of American-led government by the consent of the governed.
internalexile says
In a nightmare scenario, one can see a future where the “history” textbooks will be written by totalitarian collectivists, and the entire American/western experiment, which once placed such importance on the worth of the individual, is relegated to a curious footnote. “How strange that people once believed these foolish ideas.”
Nan says
Good, but it would be better if you credited your quote.
anonbob says
Only government mandates can save the electric car market…
Well, the jury is still out for the latest government mandate experiment, the jabs. Initial uptake was high, peer pressure, shaming, free beer, it all helped.
But then everyone (almost) realized it was all BS and now they are literally disposing of billions of sold doses.
So, the EV manufacturers might win, might not win, because most people already realize they are BS.
Ford will survive, they have been able to make vehicles that even Europeans want to buy. Tesla will survive, much like Apple has survived. The rest? Well, didn’t we already bail out GM?
BLSinSC says
Where are the Boards of Directors?? Where are the people who are SUPPOSED to be PROTECTING SHAREHOLDERS??? These idiotic fantasies are costing REAL MONEY – I know it’s just CHEAP money now but none the less! Boards are SUPPOSED to “GUIDE” or “DIRECT” important BUSINESS decisions and CAN BE SUED for negligence! If a company is LOSING money on each item eventually it will FAIL and people’s investments will be WORTHLESS – oh yeah, I guess THAT is ANOTHER GOAL of the LEFT!
We don’t NEED $80 – $100 THOUSAND pickup trucks! A SIMPLE, DEPENDABLE truck is what most people want. Ford and the others are just opening the door for SOMEONE to step in with a new company making BASIC vehicles and leaving the insane LEFT to lose THEIR money on unicorn fantasies!
Daniel Greenfield says
Some of the biggest shareholders are funds, pension, huge equity investors, who are politically woke
Onzeur Trante says
Most Americans cannot afford the “luxury” of an EV: Batteries that catch fire and are costly to replace (and eventually to dispose of — there will be a fee for that) charging will not be free or cheap, charging stations across the land by 2035?, etc. etc. The powers that be want Americans stuck at home and living off government dole, so they can be easily controlled. That’s the rationale behind EV’s which do little or nothing for the so-called carbon footprint of the American taxpayer.
Algorithmic Analyst says
Yeah, excellent point. The economic forces may be enough to break the electric vehicle mania. There may be a few people the Greenies know who can afford to spend $80,000 on an inferior electric vehicle, but for the people around here, that amount of money is laughable. Mostly I see older cars on the streets, and they keep them running a long time. The Greenies may fool some people, but I would speculate that half the people in the world would balk at spending a fortune on an electric vehicle, such as the poverty stricken masses in Asia. Rickshaws, scooters, tiny little polluter cars and such are in fashion.
Ben says
The problem isn’t electric vehicles but rather companies that are infected with the woke mind virus. As the old saying goes “Get woke go broke” I would like to see government play less and less of a role in protectionism. Too big to fail needs to become something seen in the rearview mirror.
commonsense says
Daniel: “(gas powered cars) will be the only cars that can actually remain on the road.” But the present government’s Marxist Grand Plan is to phase out gasoline stations as well as the sale and manufacture of gas powered private vehicles. So ultimately no gasoline will be available either. So much to look forward to, eh?
Daniel Greenfield says
there’ll be a black market
Algorithmic Analyst says
Already my county has banned new gas stations. They also banned existing gas stations from putting in new gas pumps. Also, economic analysis should show that that makes existing gas stations more profitable.
Cat says
Hmmm. Ban on cars means ban on gas powered cars then? In most areas of the country one cannot bicycle or walk to work, to stores, to a necessary doctor’s appointment or hospital, to friend’s homes, or to religious gatherings, or other places normal people may wish to go. The distances are too far. The weather prevents it much of the year. The elderly and many others simply cannot get where they are going without individual automobile transport. Public transportation cannot cover suburban and rural areas. I know there’s a big plan to end the suburbs, but thats not whats really happening on the ground.
Used cars, gasoline and gas cans could be very desired items in the dystopian future.
Nan says
The Government will create 15 minute cities to keep us under control. You will be able to literally walk anywhere in your city for anything they will let you have, to buy with the fed coins they will allot to you. You will only buy what they deem worthy of you, and they will be monitoring your weight, medical condition, and all other living functions so they can determine what to do with you. I hope to be long gone from Earth by then…..I just grieve for my Grandchildren.
Algorithmic Analyst says
Lots of elderly people can barely walk, or can’t walk at all.
Raice Bannon says
The only way a company can stay in business, is with help from the government. God help us.
Ricardo (Dick) Pacetti says
It all boils down to what Reagan said, I’m from the Government and I’m here to help you.
Spurwing Plover says
The Big Three shouldn’t switch to only producing just EV its would be aa big time blunder like New Coke was
whirlwinder says
The government is pushing green energy while slowly dismantling the petroleum industry as green energy supplants fossil fuels. Not going to happen, ever. So, the electric cars grind to a halt as the electric grid has been weakened to the point where it cannot provide charges for the electric cars.
So, at some point in the near future, there will be no cars on the road. No gasoline being produced and no electricity available.
So, the energy sector will have been destroyed, Hundreds of thousands of jobs lost. and our automobile industry goes into mothballs. What does that do for our military? No weapons of war from the once powerful auto industry.
This is just one more nail in the American coffin. And we are looking at the communist utopia created by the DemocRATS. Only the “elite leadership” will be driving what is left of automobiles. while we the serfs take public transportation. Game over. We will be ripe for invasion and destruction.
KenPF says
It’s worse than that. There is such a thing as energy density; it’s how much energy a source can store per unit weight. The energy density of gasoline is far greater by orders of magnitude than any battery. Ever notice how heavy a 12 volt car battery is? That’s typical. The idea that some kind of magic battery will be invented some day is a politically motivated fantasy.
And remember that within days of enacting the mandatory electric car law, California told it’s current electric car owners not to charge their cars! The grid can’t take it. The current number of electric cars is minuscule. Now imagine if all the millions of cars in California were electric. What would happen to the grid then? This will never happen because it can’t. After all electric cars have been around for more than a century and they still don’t really work. And does anyone really expect California to build dozens of new power plants?
What can happen is chaos and this is what liberals want; this is what George Soros wants.
Nan says
Chaos creates a great need for people to clamor for the Govt. to fix everything. That’s what the elite wants. The only thing they want more is to kill off the “useless eaters” taking up their valuable space. I believe the elites have been overtaken by their God, Satan.
Daniel Greenfield says
Combine that with a grid that is increasingly unreliable because it’s based on ‘sustainabiles’
Algorithmic Analyst says
Thanks Ken. And what happens when it rains, and the streets are flooded, and an electric vehicle gets stuck in a puddle? That’s one of the worst feelings, to be stuck in a puddle and the car won’t start 🙂
JG says
The cost of EVs are too high plus to be viable the owner must own a house and modify it for EV charging overnight, which will cost $2k to modify. The EVs insurance compared to fueled vehicles are much higher since any damage that hits the battery causes the Insurance Agency to total the vehicle. EV charging with Charging Stations are not good as it is time consuming, getting more expensive, and often the Charging Stations are not working due to various reasons including copper stealing. Further EV expansion is not a win for Car Makers as they will lose dealers and many of the good options that the dealers bring them such as vehicle maintenance.
Renee says
Living in a red state won’t make any difference. I don’t have an oil well in my back yard. When the government says no more sale of gas powered vehicles, the gas pumps will turn off pretty soon.
David Gin says
Daniel what’s a Billion to george soros? A drop in the bucket and if he needs more will break another countries central bank. But it’s the only way to hit back at people like him, in the pocket book so he will really feel it. Here’s hoping someone figures out how to get him to lose enormous amount of money while not hurting the economies of the world.
Freedom says
Electric vehicles don’t do well in my area due to -30 degrees Fahrenheit temperatures during winter. Batteries don’t charge as well, don’t have as much power in the cold, and the heater- defroster uses a lot of electricity in those temperatures.
Tex the Mockingbird says
New Age Enviromentalism has become dangerous new age Pagan religion that will have us back to Human Sacrifice like the Aztecs did
Algorithmic Analyst says
Thanks Tex. We already have human sacrifice in covert form, such as abortion, the jab, the great displacement come immediately to mind.
TruthLaser says
Collectivist government requires human sacrifice.
Oliver Hannan says
He didn’t really go into the lack of adequate infrastructure other than to point out that California and other blue states are too heavily reliant on solar and wind, which can not sustain the power consumption needs of the electric vehicle mandate.
JJR23 says
the major amount of ev are sold to the rich, in entertainment
and other people since you need to owe 7500 in income tax to get the credit. and most of the wealthy have at least 2 or more gas cars or SUV so they don’t worry about trips. but hers the way cal will be worker comes home at 6pm goes to plug in 1 that’s the most expensive time to charge as well as when cal grid is overtaxed already but what if high winds and elect co shuts off power or fires start they need to evac at 10 pm cars not charged gas generators will be outlawed too how to evacuate? and remember cal imports coal power now but Biden and greens want them to shut down
and ev and all cars are rising in price due to 6 to 9% inflation
no one will be able to buy ev at by then 75000 and ins has been soaring too interest rates are 30 yr highs
TRex says
Mandatory “cash for clunkers”. There, problem solved. Bicycle makers and cobblers get ready for the tsunami.
Christopher Riddle says
How are we going to”Dispose”of the”Spent Batteries”?????????????????????????????????????