Posted on 01/10/2023 8:24:08 AM PST by SeekAndFind
I grew up in a household with parents who were of the Greatest Generation. They lived and shouldered through the Great Depression, and then their lives and families were thrown into turmoil on Dec. 7, 1941. My grandfather worked for the War Department in Washington, D.C., and during World War II, my father served in the Pacific Theater.
Both my mother and father made a solemn vow that as long as they lived, they would never buy a German or a Japanese car. No matter how well they were made. They were the enemies. They were the ones who killed nearly half a million Americans. Period.
And that value system was transported to me. In honor of my parents' values, I couldn't in good conscience buy a Japanese or German car.
I've been thinking that after all these years, I may have to change my mind. The American auto companies, which are so often bailed out by U.S. taxpayers, have made a pronouncement that they intend, in the next few years, to stop making and assembling gas-engine cars. You know, the kind of cars that Henry Ford started rolling off the assembly line 100 years ago at the Ford Motor Company in Detroit.
Henceforth, virtually all American-made cars will be electric vehicles. Perhaps the corporate brass in Michigan's auto executive offices thinks this makes them good global citizens. They are all in on the fight against global warming. They may be making a political bet that the federal government and more states are going to go the way of California and eventually mandate that every car produced must be battery-operated. But there is also a good deal of virtue-signaling going on here by the folks at Ford and General Motors.
It's a free country, and if they want to start rolling millions of EVs off the assembly lines, so be it.
But it's one thing to make cars that appeal to members of the Sierra Club and quite another to produce automobiles that the typical buyer wants. And guess what? So far, most people have turned a decisive thumbs-down on EVs. (Incidentally, I'm personally agnostic on electric vehicles. I've driven Teslas, and they are wonderful smooth-driving vehicles. But they have problems, too, such as getting stranded with no juice in the middle of nowhere.)
So far, only about 6% of new cars sold are electric vehicles. And polls show that only about half of Americans prefer an EV over a traditional car. Much larger majorities oppose the government telling us what kind of car we can buy.
Incidentally, the one state that far outpaces the rest of the country in EV sales (with about 1 in 5 new car sales being battery-operated) is California. But, hey, Detroit: Sorry, California isn't the country.
All of this is to say that there's a decent chance the American auto companies' shift to all EVs is going to fail. This could even be the most epic failure for American car companies since Ford introduced the Edsel. (For youngsters, that was the 1950s ugly car that nobody wanted to buy.)
Meanwhile, and this is the especially sad part of the story, at least one company realizes the tomfoolery of making only electric cars. And that company is the Japanese automaker Toyota. Akio Toyoda, the president and grandson of the founder of the giant Japanese car company, is going to buck the trend.
"People involved in the auto industry are largely a silent majority," Toyoda recently told news reporters. "That silent majority is wondering whether EVs are really OK to have as a single option. But they think it's the trend, so they can't speak out loudly."
Toyoda wasn't done. "I believe we need to be realistic about when society will be able to fully adopt Battery Electric Vehicles," he explained. "And frankly, BEVs are not the only way to achieve the world's carbon neutrality goals."
Toyoda is right on all counts. There's scant evidence that EVs will reduce pollution levels more than traditional cars -- in part because most of the energy for the batteries comes from burning fossil fuels. And because the batteries themselves create waste issues.
How can it be that a Japanese CEO is more plugged in to the tastes, preferences and buying habits of American car buyers than those based here at home? (Yes, I know Toyota has many plants in the United States.)
You would think that U.S. automakers would understand a basic red, white and blue reality, which is that Americans have a special and long-standing love affair with their cars. They aren't going to trade in their Mustangs, Camaros, Cadillacs and trucks for an EV. For many of us, this would be akin to taking away our firstborn.
What's sadder still is that the Japanese seem to understand American car buyers better than the execs in Detroit. Honda and Toyota were the first to recognize that people wanted more fuel-efficient cars when gas prices more than tripled in the 1970s.
All of this means that if GM, Ford and Chrysler speed forward with their commitment to convert to 100% EVs, I'm going to have to break my long-standing pledge to my parents to "buy American" and never purchase a Japanese car. The American companies will have given me no choice. Sorry, this is 2023, not 1923, when Henry Ford said you could have a Model T in any color you wanted, as long as it was black.
Incidentally, as this "woke" green energy fad fades into the sunset, as it almost assuredly will, and the American auto companies see their sales crash, they'd better not come begging for yet another taxpayer bailout.
p
Does Honda go along with this stupidity?
If so, Toyota, here I come.
I will not buy any vehicle made by the UAW.
EVs, especially hybrids, are going to make up an increasing percentage of the vehicles on the road. Hybrids are the most practical and can make a significant market penetration.
There are just some segments of the market that EVs and even hybrids cannot meet the needs.
I like EVs in the 20% of total cars range. Any more than that and I am afraid that this lemming cliff jump of the car makers is going to have devastating impacts on parts and service down the line for ICE vehicles. I foresee lots of stranded motorists in the future.
This forced EV adoption is not going to end well.
Toyota makes a great vehicle - I have two of them (older) and if I buy a truck it will probably be a Toyota.
I could sure go for a fresh model of the 1969 Volkswagon bug, or van, or both, or a choice of one of the other cheap cars that used to be on the market.
I just want a simple, cheap car, pay a few thousand, start it and go, roll up the windows, get out to raise the antennae, replace the water pump myself.
RE: If so, Toyota, here I come.
I’ve owned nothing but Toyota’s all my life.
Camry, Lexus, and now Prius. Each of these cars have served me for at least 15 years ( one 250,000 miles ). Two of them made in America ( yes, I said made in America. In Kentucky specifically). Only the Prius was made in Japan, but why complain when that car is reliable and gives me 50 miles to the gallon?
I own 2 Chevy Volt plug in hybrids. Been great cars, but they are like a screwdriver to me, they just get a job done. All my fun cars are gas powered and But changing all production at once to electric cars without substantially changing our power grid seems like a terrible idea. If I saw nuclear power plants being built and new dams being built I would feel better about this.
The American way of doing this would be to make them available enough to satiate demand. I would even accept some government push, in the way of gas taxes. But mandating that no more gas motors be built is draconian and bound to be an expensive failure.
Toyoda is correct - these aren't 'electric' cars - they're BATTERY cars...
Toyota is still working on new technology. I hope the ICE never goes away. But maybe hydrogen powered vehicles will have a place, and not as an inefficient money pit like EV’s.
I would expect to see the big three put political pressure on increasing subsidies and ultimately making efforts to curtail the retail gasoline distribution business as a way of giving electrics a push.
My sense is that Ford is the most at risk from this all-in commitment to electrics. They may be heading for Chapter 11.
Once again, Toyota will kick the stuffings out of US automakers.
The big miss was the Elio. If that was an electric car it would have sold extremely well. I know they would have sold one to me. The market is ready for a 3 wheeled 2 person commuter car and there isnt one on the market.
And not only that, but an EV with a kill switch.
Mess up your social credit score, and guess what?
It's a "fad" that will subside in 7-10yrs, and the worldwide automakers will be stuck with TRILLIONS of dollars in closed manufacturing plants, and enormous inventory, sitting in fields.
EV's started in 1895 and went out in 2015, pushed to extinction by Stanley Steamer etc steam-powered vehicles, and Ford's Model As, plus Duryea and other mfgrs.
“What’s sadder still is that the Japanese seem to understand American car buyers better than the execs in Detroit. Honda and Toyota were the first to recognize that people wanted more fuel-efficient cars when gas prices more than tripled in the 1970s.”
Wrong. Toyota and Honda ONLY made small fuel efficient vehicles at that time. American car makers made both gas hog luxo-boats, gas-hungry muscle cars AND small fuel efficient cars. Mavericks, Pintos, Vegas, Novas were all in production then.
If fact, Ford introduced the Falcon in 1960 model year and Chevy had the Corvair at the same time. A decade and a half before the energy crisis of 1974
The next and perhaps final vehicles will most likely be Toyota products. I have bought American for nearly 60 years for the reasons given by the author but no more.
Toyota builds a consistently quality product. My sister and BIL have driven them for a long time and just keep buying the same brand for the reason of quality, dependability and performance. An old Tacoma pickup is just about as good, maybe better, than a new one.
I had a 1969 VW van, but fortunately I never had to change the water pump.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.