“consumer demand for EVs hasn’t shown up in the way executives had expected”
I still find it incredible that auto manufacturers went all in on something that was obviously horribly flawed.
Toyota is the only one that kept reality in focus.
Why not? The assumed that the administrative state will bail them out when it fails horribly so what is the real risk?
Thank you for that info. I was wondering about that.
The “reformers” tried to push too much, too soon with their mandates and totally artificial scarcity schemes, in attempting to make hydrocarbon fuels so expensive that the overpriced EVs seemed like a bargain. But the infrastructure to charge up these EVs was simply not there.
The house plant has outgrown its planter, and has become rootbound.
I think EVs are a great idea for BICYCLES.
Just like cordless drills and other power tools that run off of a battery instead of plug in electrical cord are a great idea. The volume of power tools sold today that are battery operated vs. electrical corded must be 5 or 10 to 1. Maybe more.
There are literally BILLIONS of people who can not afford to own an automobile. Many can only afford a bicycle.
However, a battery operated bike is a life changing product for them.
E Bikes are all over the cities now because they make more sense from a parking and commuting standpoint. The only MAJOR issue is that the batteries occasionally start on fire.
I have even been tempted to buy one myself like this:
https://eridepros.com/product/pro-ss-19/
I even spoke to one of the owners of this company about becoming a dealer in New England. They currently do not have one. This bike goes 60 MPH. There is very little maintenance.
It's because they had no choice, Wall Street, UAW, EPA, and DOT are forcing ESG on the big US automakers.
That's why the psychotic Jennifer Grandholm keeps winging about an EV comeback, they are trying to force EVs only.
Toyota can be more honest about this since they aren't as dependent on these leftist entities.
“I still find it incredible that auto manufacturers went all in on something that was obviously horribly flawed.”
IMHO the US automakers were pressured by FedGov to get onboard with the GND foolishness or else the CAFE and other regs would be tweaked so high as to put recalcitrant automakers out of business. FedGov knows that it could not get away with a total ban of ICE powered vehicles but it can regulate them out of existence.
That’s the bubble. The auto makers and the regulators and the politicians are inside their own bubble. So they self reinforced their ideas and created rationalizations. Only the Japanese figured it out on their own - they are committed to ICE alongside EV.
EV can work in some areas though the infrastructure isn’t exactly ready. West coast of USA and metro south areas can do it. Dense cities are harder as you don’t want to stack 50 charging stations inside a structure with a lot of people. Rural areas even more difficult. Sub Saharan Africa? Forget about it.
Tesla is doing it about as close to right as possible. They have more than a decade head start and most of the market. They have excellent lease deals so you can give the car back before the battery becomes a problem ( that may resolve itself in time) because the car is essentially disposable if you can’t afford a new battery pack in 10 or so years. Of course that also means you don’t own it so there is uncertainty as a trade off). They have great technology with sonar and heat sensor tech on a path towards fully autonomous driving (also a long ways from being fully unleashed but the safety features of all that tech are working now). They have their own charging network. And they cherry picked the best markets. Most of the low hanging fruit has been plucked. All competitors have a steep uphill battle.
Now add in future predictive problems. We - and i specifically mean California but a lot of the country - don’t have an electric grid to handle much more. Using energy from 4-9 pm triples your cost. That’s a problem.
What is Toyota who figured all this out? They make EV but they are still heavy in ICE and don’t want to transition at this point. There are places in the world that may not be ready for EV for decades, there is a large segment of the people who don’t want it, and those who do want it already have it. The Japanese are not in that bubble of US regulatory-industry-politics.
“I still find it incredible that auto manufacturers went all in on something that was obviously horribly flawed.”
agreed ... nonetheless, just another example of the ignorant morons who are in charge of a majority of major corporations ...