The general collapse of the whole alarmist project includes, of course, the increasingly desperate back-peddling of politicians as their vision unravels and voters enrage. But another important part of it is EVs. As Jo Nova just wrote, “It’s been a crushing week for the EV industry as the bad news that has been brewing for months was laid bare in the quarterly reports.” Oh dear. It is more reality.
Nova notes that:
“Volkswagen admitted orders are down a shocking 50% and they are sacking 2,000 jobs in the software division. Ford posted an operating loss of $1.3 billion for the quarter – meaning they are losing $36,000 for every EV they sell. They face a ghastly full year loss of $4.5b, so not surprisingly, they are delaying battery plants, and plans to expand production. All up they are now holding off on $12 billion in investments. The head of Mercedes-Benz described the market as ‘a pretty brutal space’…. Panasonic has slowed EV battery production … by 60% in Japan compared to the same quarter last year. While its US plants were OK, profit forecasts of the whole energy division were down 15% and depended on US subsidies.”
There’s more where that came from, and Parker Gallant lists some of it in a piece entitled “Is the EV House of Cards Collapsing”. And Heatmap Daily allowed that:
“It’s been a confusing and sometimes dismaying week of electric vehicle news. Ford, GM, and Hertz are slowing their transitions to EV, and even Elon Musk sounds daunted by what’s coming.”
Oh, and credit to Akio Toyoda, the chairman and former CEO of Toyota, who saw it coming and has long been braving conventional wisdom and its slings and arrows by warning that EVs were overhyped. He gets to say “Told you so” and he did: “People are finally seeing reality”.
And of course the Canadian government has just committed itself to spend megabillions on a couple of EV battery plants for Volkswagen and Stellantis, thus adding weight to the theory that the point at which government jumps onto the bandwagon signals the beginning of the death spiral for that industry.