Posted on 07/28/2023 12:12:29 PM PDT by Red Badger
(By Jon Miltimore, FEE) Ford Motor recently announced it is slashing prices on its F-150 Lightning, an electric vehicle the company rolled out in 2021.
The Lightning now carries a suggested retail price of $49,995, about $10,000 lower than its previous recommended price tag ($59,974), a reduction the company says is possible because of lower “battery raw material costs and continued work on scaling production and cost.”
It’s certainly possible that reduced overhead from battery minerals and production costs played a role in Ford’s decision to trim its price tag by nearly 20%, but that may be only half the story.
Several reports show EVs are not exactly flying off dealership lots. In fact, there’s a glut of them.
“After a prolonged period in which EVs quickly disappeared from dealerships, the electric vehicle industry now has the opposite problem: unsold models are piling up,” reported Money last week. “About 92,000 EVs currently sit on dealers’ lots; that’s a 342% increase from a year ago, when only about 21,000 did so, according to automotive research firm Cox Automotive.”
Ford is not immune from the weakened demand for EVs. Sales of its flagship car, the Mustang Mach-E, have slumped, down 44 percent in May from the same month last year.
The Lightning, which won the title of EV king of pickup trucks after Ford moved nearly 16,000 units in 2022, has fared better but is still struggling to keep pace with 2022. And now the company is facing some stiff new competition. (More on that in a minute.)
This was not the scenario many people predicted.
In April, the International Energy Agency released a report in which it predicted EV sales to increase 35 percent after a record-breaking year. But economists I spoke with said such predictions were overly optimistic considering current macroeconomic conditions.
This invites important questions. Is the glut of EVs simply a product of tightened money supply?
Apparently not. As Axios noted, the 92,000 EVs currently sitting on lots is comparatively high relative to gasoline-powered cars.
“That’s a 92-day supply — roughly three months’ worth of EVs, and nearly twice the industry average,” wrote Joann Muller. “For comparison, dealers have a relatively low 54 days’ worth of gasoline-powered vehicles in inventory….”
In other words, dealerships are sitting on a lot more EVs than gasoline-powered vehicles—despite efforts to entice consumers to buy EVs with taxpayer-funded credits up to $7,500.
This is evidence that pretty much everyone—from central planners to auto manufacturers—misjudged the demand for EVs, which are not even as environmentally friendly as politicians would have you believe.
Not only do EVs require an astonishing amount of mining—an estimated 500,000 pounds of rock and minerals must be upturned to make a single battery, physicists point out—but their carbon footprint isn’t much smaller than gas-powered cars.
It turns out that EVs actually require a lot more CO2 to produce than gas-powered cars. EVs can make that up, but it takes a great deal of time because EVs also often run on electricity generated from fossil fuels. Just how long? In 2021, Volvo admitted that its C40 Recharge has to be driven 70,000 miles before its carbon impact is lower than its gas-powered version.
All of this is to say that a bunch of unused EVs isn’t just a financial headache for auto dealers and motor companies; it’s also an environmental problem.
That said, the weaker than expected demand for EVs doesn’t mean the future of electric vehicles is doomed. On the contrary, demand for EVs is likely to increase as battery technology and EV infrastructure improves. Ford’s Lightning, for example, only has half the range of its gas-powered F-150 because of its small battery—a clear concern when charging stations are not yet readily available in many places.
For now, however, motor companies are competing with one another to attract customers in a smaller than anticipated EV market. Which brings me to Elon Musk.
Tesla last week rolled out its much-hyped Cybertruck, which is a direct challenge to the Lightning, and likely played a role in Ford’s price cut.
Federal lawmakers may have created a glut of EVs with their meddling, and it’s likely to have an adverse impact on both the auto market and the environment. But one of the virtues of capitalism is that consumers will ultimately decide who wins in the EV market and who loses.
Whether that turns out to be Musk’s Cybertruck or Ford’s Lightning remains to be seen. Either way, the competition is bringing down prices, which is a win for consumers looking to purchase an EV.
But the glut of electrical vehicles on the market reveals the danger in letting lawmakers decide what consumers should be driving.
you’d have to be a moron to spend $50k on a vehicle whose battery will be dead within the next 5 years... the replacement of which will cost at least $30k.
sorry, i’ll stick with my ‘old fashioned’ car
Screw the planet.
Expensive?!
Why, if a lowly government worker in DC can afford one, then anyone can.
EVs are very expensive grocery getters, because there are insufficient charging stations for folks to risk on family vacations or any trip over 200 miles.
The Lightning is a joke
EV Mustang ?
NERD CAR
Gooberment workers are a myth, they don’t work, they just get paid and well and every single two weeks just like clockwork forever.
The federal government requires manufacturers to offer an eight-year/100,000-mile warranty on all EV batteries. California does one better, mandating a warranty of 10 years or 150,000 miles.
As I understand it, on the Teslas the battery is basically the size of the floorboard, and is also integrated into it....so...
I also hear tesla has their own battery reclamation and recycling program but I don’t know the specific details.
I’ve long thought if the manufacturers would have gotten on the same page early on and all made their batteries interchangeable and could be removed and installed in a timely manner it might have gone a long way in making the things more desirable.
Then you could have battery replacement stations much like the Blue Rino propane tank exchange business model......you don’t own it, you just rent it......but there’s still that pesky spontaneous combustion bug issue. 😏
“life-size Lego Technic Bugatti Chiron. Powered by 2,304 Lego motors it produced approximately 5.4PS (5.4bhp) and 92Nm (68lb ft).”
That must have been a real speed fest...lol. Probably sounded like a thousand electric toothbrushes.
Not sure that torque rating is correct.
Painting with an awfully broad brush there are you my friend?
Many federal civil servants were in the military and served honorably, leaving parts of not only their bodies but also their minds in far away lands to protect our country just so you can sleep comfortably every night.
I worked around many of those people for 30 years and I’m proud and honored have been their coworker.
Do government workers have a deserved bad rep? Yes.....but by NO means not all.
I live in car-country LA. I have a hybrid Accord. It’s perfect for the available conditions - lower speeds, lots of stops, freeway traffic, gives me 50+ mpg, day in, day out, normal sized sedan interior, etc. Bought new in 2017 and was priced within a few hundred $ of the gas version. [Touring package - basically all factory options that are offered - only version that was hybrid]. Paid about $34k out the door.
It works for me because I have no need to transport materials [groceries, yes, 3 inch pipe, no], tow stuff, and rarely go on road trips [when I do, I drive my gas powered Jeep].
Its a good technology for the right conditions, but it wouldn’t work outside metro areas / long cold periods [ie 90% of the country] and anyone in trades or transport, and certainly not commercial.
But I firmly believe there’s room for both and advantages to both, from my own personal use and experience.
Never had an EV. The initial cost + charging & range make it a bad econ choice with current technology, so not considered.
See, rational discussion without politics is possible.
IMO, anyone who has purchased an EV with full faith in the advertised travel range at full battery charge is a fool and deserves whatever misfortune follows. Gasoline and diesel vehicles usually fall well short of the fuel economy numbers of the window sticker, too - this is nothing new. Caveat Emptor still applies, even when virtue signaling.
I couldn't find any Snow Tires for it?
Some people have earned respect and deserve it.
I grew up in a civil service and former military house. Back then civil service could be fired or hit by a RIF. I don’t see much of that going on now. Back then a lot of the jobs were temporary or seasonal. Not so much now.
Agency offices in DC are only 25% occupied. Compared to pre-covid there is probably less than that amount of work getting done. There are plenty of slackers and gold bricks to paint.
I’ve waited two years for a settlement of damages to my pastures by a feral agency. All I got were excuses to covid and office shut downs for lack of progress. Now I don’t get anything. This government is a terrible joke no matter who works for it.
My grandfather said to never work for anyone you didn’t respect lest that rubs off on you. Yeah, gooberment “workers” deserve a bad rap but some don’t.
Bet Biden still has all the Jetsons cartoons on a cd’s it’s where he gets all his ideas.
The entire floor pan is the battery...u can’t seperate them, as you will have no floor.
I think people are slowly waking up to the fact that, after 7-8 years, you have to replace the battery and that is about equivalent to the original cost of the vehicle. And, on top of that, you have all the other limitations of an EV as well.
No thanks.
“fire sale.”
laughs out loud
Well played
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