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Posted on 12/06/2025 2:44:27 PM PST by Diana in Wisconsin
The car world is taking a long look at its EV offerings as major brands decide to kill off some of the very models that, just a few years ago, were touted as the way forward for automakers. With a new administration, slashed tax incentives for EVs, and wonky pricing, tariffs, and inflation, some surprising cuts are being made.
Checking in on the state of EVs with Art Wheaton, automotive expert and director of labor studies at Cornell University ILR School in Buffalo, New York, he confirmed in a recent call, “It’s a brutal market. And the current administration isn’t helping.”
It’s no surprise then that we need a “Delayed, But Not Dead” category, which isn’t the best way to kick off a new model. The Kia EV4 was expected in the U.S. in early 2026 as an electric sedan. But that’s been delayed, it appears, indefinitely, at least stateside. A hatchback version is going ahead in Europe and other markets. Polestar’s next electric sports car was supposed to arrive in 2026. The Polestar 6 convertible is throwing off the numerical order of things with a delay until 2028 or later, which means the Polestar 7 SUV could beat it to market.
For 2026 look for changes to the Dodge Charger Daytona electric muscle car and Ford F-150 Lightning pickup truck. While not definitive nails in the coffin, the trim changes (the Charger’s base R/T trim is no longer and the Lightning is doing away with the base XLT trim for the pricier STX) and shifting lineups for both EVs aren’t healthy indicators. There are loud whispers about the end of the Lightning in favor of a cheaper, smaller electric truck from Ford. The Lightning STX starts at more than $63,000.
Then there’s Tesla’s Cybertruck, which is still hanging on despite terrible sales, ratings and recalls. But as Wheaton said, “The Cybertruck is Dead On Arrival, it’s just waiting to get phased out.”
While those cars are in a zombie-limbo state, here’s this year’s EV graveyard of discontinued cars...
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P.S. Trump's Fault - of course, LOL!
Aww, that’s a shame.
The countries that have the 2025-30 EV mandates will buy the EXPLODING/SPYING Chinese EVs ,LOL
I’m not surprised since the generous electric vehicle subsidy ended.
Was planning on a new Cadillac XT6 until I found out Cadillac was only producing EV XT6 in 2026. Love my new Lincoln ICE.
Oversized electric golf cart fanbois hardest hit!
But, but, teh 0-60 times are teh fastar.
Same, I purchased a Lincoln Nautilus for my wife earlier this year and it’s a great car.
“It’s a brutal market. And the current administration isn’t helping. -- Art Wheaton, Automotive EXPERT and Director of Labor Studies at Cornell University ILR School in Buffalo, NY”So, Mr. Expert, how long should the federal government subsidize these boondoggles? 20 years? 30? 50? 100 years? How much should the federal government distort markets with subsidies? WHY should us taxpayers subsidize peoples' purchase of EVs? What is the benefit of endless and massive subsidies?
Why is it nobody EVER answers these basic questions. It's just "More, more, more, gimme, gimme, gimme."
OK. Here’s my take, STRICTLY from a Marketing/Retail angle - because that’s my ‘Wheelhouse.’ ;)
WHY did the big manufacturers not say NO to having Mother Government foist EVs on them?
Why did they not promote the ever-loving HECK out of Hybrids that were half EV/half ICE? I don’t remember that happening, do you? I mean, I KNEW they were available, even knew a few people that bought one, but wouldn’t it make more SENSE to get the Consumer interested in a hybrid FIRST - and then IF (BIG IF!) EVERYONE wanted one - AND YOU HAD THE RECHARGING INFRASTRUCTURE IN PLACE - THEN you invest BILLIONS in these golf carts?
I do not understand who was in charge and why all of this time and effort was WASTED for something Joe Lunch Bucket neither WANTS, NOR CAN AFFORD!
So many stupid, STUPID, expensive mistakes have been made.
The WHIMS of Mother Government never cease to amaze and baffle me!
See my Post #9. I’m sure you can enlighten me some more. :)
The "expert" Art Wheaton's ancestors probably wanted the government to subsidize their horse shoe business once the Model T became popular.
Don’t want one & couldn’t afford one if I did
I can tell you why the manufacturers don’t say no. I tried to market my engineering services to military supply companies during a downturn when they were laying off staff. Clinton was president. I told a purchasing agent, “Here’s your contract. Here’s the services I can do for you at a fraction of your current costs.” He pulled out a letter that had been sent to the company brass. It was from the IRS. It said, essentially, that if they subcontracted their deliverables for any government contract the IRS would sue them and impound their bank accounts. It was couched in diplomatic vagueness, but the meaning was clear. The Clinton administration did not want blanket layoffs in the contracts where they could prevent it from happening because it was political poison. I told the purchasing agent that the IRS would have no cause of action, and they’d win in court. He said that if the IRS seized their accounts they’d be out of business in a week.
Companies do what the government wants because the government says, essentially, “Geez. Dat’s a nice business youse got there. Shame if something should happen to it.”
It’s amazing, isn’t it? There’s no push-back on any of the extreme government green agenda by any company. Upstream of the car makers, how did the extreme radical greens capture the entire federal government? The car makers have never pushed back on any extreme regulation by the government whether it’s EV mandates or the horrible CAFE standards.
Only Toyota had the courage to be a vocal skeptic of an all-out rush to battery electric vehicles and not join the madding crowd.
I was in the electric energy industry for 30 years (age 21 to 51). I was sickened by the very same phenomenon in that industry. The government was correct at the beginning when it mandated control of sulfur emissions with SO2 scrubbers; mandated NOx emissions control with selective catalytic reduction systems; and mandated control of particulates with baghouses.
But that left the thousands of regulators with nothing to do so they had to find the next bogeyman. Coal? Shut all of it down and install natural gas. A few years later “natural gas BAD because of CO2, install windmills and solar panels.” All the while never really thinking about whether it was even possible for a massive industrial country could possibly power itself with wind and solar.
But nowhere along the line did any utility tell the government “You are wrong. This makes no sense.” That’s the exact same phenomenon as the EV industry.
Companies just love to suck up to government and cash those huge subsidy checks whether they are for R&D, for new plant construction or rebates to buyers of their products. And lots of those subsidy dollars all along the food chain find their way to Democrat politicians to get them re-elected (see Solyndra).
The whole rack sickens me. Color me cynical, but that’s what I think is going on.
ChuckHam wrote: “Same, I purchased a Lincoln Nautilus for my wife earlier this year and it’s a great car.”
My wife has always preferred Cadillac thinking it was a better car. Now that she has an Aviator, no way she’s going back.
And don't forget the power that state run pension funds have in the investment market. Even in red states like Alabama, most state workers, including the pension managers, are leftists. The ESG ratings that a lot of us were fussing about were made IMHO mainly for pension managers to have a score of which companies were most "deserving" of the billions from pension investment money. Going EV was a way for car manufacturers to build up their ESG score and get pension money. Since then red states have passed laws saying that state pension managers can't use ESG as a factor.
Good news, maybe garage fires around the country will subside.
Your jealousy is dripping all over.
“Good news, maybe garage fires around the country will subside.”
When was the last one?
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