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Toyota’s chairman and former CEO, Akio Toyoda, has long been a skeptic of the electric vehicle hype train—it was a big reason he stepped down from the top job at the Japanese carmaker earlier this year. Now, he can finally say, “I told you so.” With Elon Musk’s Tesla reporting disastrous third-quarter earnings last week, investors are realizing that EVs are no silver bullet for profit. “People are finally seeing reality,” Toyoda said on Wednesday. Akio Toyoda stepped down from his role as CEO of Toyota earlier this year, in the wake of questions over his leadership resulting from the...

General Motors is building Silverado EVs. It delivered a whole 18 of them during the third quarter of this year. It planned to expand production beyond its Detroit-Hamtramck facility, also known as "Factory Zero", by 2024 to Orion Assembly where the Bolt EV is built, albeit not for much longer. That plan has now been pushed back to late 2025, and according to GM, the decision was not made due to any supply shortages, or even the ongoing United Auto Workers strike. It could be indicative of waning consumer enthusiasm for fully electric vehicles as a whole. The automaker cited...

Australia’s Maritime Safety Authority has issued a domestic commercial vessel safety alert on the risks of ferrying battery powered cars (EVs), download it here. Each ferry operator must conduct a risk assessment for their vessel to ensure that they are capable of dealing with potential EV fires. They list the risks of carrying EVs as follows: High voltage shocks. Direct jet flames. Fires develop in intensity quickly and rapidly reach their maximum intensity (typically within 2-3 minutes). Toxic gases. Gas explosion (if the released gas accumulates for a while before being ignited). Long lasting re-ignition risk (can ignite or re-ignite...

A comprehensive new study of electric vehicles shows that the cost of running them is far more expensive than has been commonly thought. Brent Bennett and Jason Isaac issued their report for the Texas Public Policy Foundation, pointing out that advocates for electric vehicles claim the vehicles require lower maintenance and lower fueling costs than traditional vehicles, and future reductions in battery prices will make EVs less expensive. But, they argue, “no one has attempted to calculate the full financial benefit of the wide array of direct subsidies, regulatory credits, and subsidized infrastructure that contribute to the economic viability of...

FIRST ON FOX: A sweeping first-of-its-kind analysis published by think tank Texas Public Policy Foundation (TPPF) concludes that electric vehicles (EV) would cost tens of thousands of dollars more if not for generous taxpayer-funded incentives. According to the TPPF report - authored by energy experts Jason Isaac, Brent Bennett and Syd Lucas - the average model year 2021 EV would cost approximately $48,698 more to own over a 10-year period without the staggering $22 billion in taxpayer-funded handouts that the government provides to electric car manufacturers and owners. The analysis factors in federal fuel efficiency programs, electric grid strain, and...

The effort to electrify America's most popular and influential vehicle class is under way, but it appears to be faltering at the hands of reluctant motorists. This week, Ford said it would lay off about 700 workers at the Detroit plant that manufactures its electric F-150 Lightning pickup truck and GM pushed back production of the Chevrolet Silverado EV, citing slowing demand. And Tesla CEO Elon Musk told investors during an earnings call on Wednesday, 'we dug our own grave' when referencing the company's much anticipated electric pickup Cybertruck. Pickup trucks have long been the crown jewel of the US...

lectric cars risk becoming effectively uninsurable as analysts struggle to put a price on battery repairs, the researcher for the car insurance industry has said. Jonathan Hewett, chief executive of Thatcham Research, the motor insurers’ automotive research centre, said a lack of “insight and understanding” about the cost of repairing damaged electric car batteries was pushing up premiums and resulting in some providers declining to provide cover altogether.

Democratic New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham issued an executive order Monday requiring every state government agency to transition to an entirely electric vehicle fleet by 2035. Lujan Grisham – who made the announcement during remarks at the New Mexico Department of Transportation's Symposium on the Future of Transportation – added that her government would pursue a plan to bolster electric vehicle (EV) tax credits in an effort to boost affordability. The executive order to force state agencies to adopt carbon-free vehicle fleets comes as Lujan Grisham continues pushing EV mandates statewide. "The fact of the matter is that consumers...

The U.S. Supreme Court declined to take up a case that challenged a Minnesota law that would mandate auto dealers to offer more hybrid and electric vehicles. The high court did not provide an explanation for declining the case on Monday. No justices offered a dissent. The Minnesota Automobile Dealers Association (MADA) challenged the emissions law, known as the “clean car” rules, after they were adopted in 2021 by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency at the request of Gov. Tim Walz, a Democrat. The emissions standards are slated to go into effect in 2024 for 2025 model-year vehicles. MADA has...

Less than six months after filing with the Chinese government to add solid-state batteries to three of its EV models, NIO has just filed to include the potentially game-changing technology to 11 more. With dozens of EVs powered by the lighter, safer, and more energy-dense cells, the automotive landscape overseas could soon look very different in that drivers can go further and charge faster. As one of the leading EV automakers in China, NIO ($NIO) is continuing to push innovation to its current limit, at least in terms of range and charge speeds. The company has been leveraging its relationship...

A transit system run by the town of Jackson and Teton County set out to replace its diesel buses with electric, but none of the eight electric buses in its fleet are running, and the company that made them went bankrupt. Teton County and the town of Jackson had set its sights on a low-emission transit system for the county. The Southern Teton Area Rapid Transit (START) system, a joint operation between Jackson and Teton County, bought eight electric buses to complement its fleet of 31.

Thousands of Canadian auto workers are joining the United Auto Workers (UAW) strike across the United States as American auto workers warn that they face “poverty wages” as a result of President Joe Biden’s rules to mandate electric vehicles (EVs). On Tuesday, about 4,300 Canadians at three Ontario-based General Motors (GM) plants joined the UAW strike, which is also against Ford and Stellantis. GM now faces a production issue, as the plants produce a number of vehicles, including Chevrolet Silverado trucks, one of the automaker’s most profitable. Officials with Unifor, the Canadian labor union equivalent to the UAW, accused GM...

On Friday’s broadcast of Bloomberg’s “The Open,” acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su responded to a question on why the Biden administration is using tax dollars to give wealthy people credits to buy expensive electric cars by stating that they’re trying to create jobs and people support tax credits that help create jobs, and also because there’s a climate crisis. After Su mentioned the Biden administration’s economic policies, host Jonathan Ferro asked, “Let’s talk about those policies. There is something really peculiar going on at the moment. If you think about what’s happening at the picket line, they have serious...

Tales of electric vehicle failures grow more numerous by the day.According to Cowboy State Daily, a Wyoming-based news organization, Wyoming’s Teton County and the town of Jackson purchased eight electric buses, all of which have broken down and will no longer run.The electric buses’ failure has forced Jackson and Teton County to rely on their existing fleet of 31 diesel buses.

"According to Cowboy State Daily, a Wyoming-based news organization, Wyoming’s Teton County and the town of Jackson purchased eight electric buses, all of which have broken down and will no longer run."

Norway is an EV leader thanks to a generous pot of tax incentives. Today, battery-electric cars make up more than half of all new car sales in Norway. Schalk Cloete takes a detailed look at what those incentives cost, and how many tonnes of CO2 they avoid. Norway – a major oil and gas exporter – needs to sell over 100 barrels of oil (which emits 40 tonnes of CO2) to pay for the tax breaks it gives EVs to avoid one tonne of CO2. And Norway’s electricity is almost completely clean thanks to hydro power, so the CO2 avoidance...

A BOY of 15 has been killed in a giant explosion feared to have been triggered by detonating electric car batteries. At least 163 were also injured following the huge blast in a customs warehouse near Tashkent Airport in Uzbekistan in the early hours, which was felt up to 20 miles away. Shocking footage shows the explosion at 2.43am local time, which caused damage to hundreds of houses and other buildings over a vast area. Batteries for electric cars exploded at the airport warehouse, it is understood. Dozens of ambulances ferried the wounded to hospitals and at least five children...

A Democratic enclave in Wyoming purchased electric buses to reduce emissions, but the buses are indefinitely inoperable after their manufacturer went bankrupt earlier this summer, the Cowboy State Daily reported. Jackson, Wyoming, and Teton County formed the Southern Teton Area Rapid Transit (START) system, which bought eight electric buses from Proterra to add to its fleet of 31 diesel buses, the Cowboy State Daily reported. Proterra, which itself was at the center of a conflict of interest controversy including Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, went bankrupt in August, and START’s eight e-buses are now out of commission given that the manufacturer...

On Tuesday, President Joe Biden visited members of the United Auto Workers (UAW) who are striking against General Motors (GM), Ford, and Stellantis. The president, though, failed to make mention his Electric Vehicle (EV) mandates which are partly responsible for the strike. Tens of thousands of auto workers are striking against the Big Three across the United States, looking to secure a new labor contract that includes wage increases to keep up with Biden’s record inflation and commitments that their jobs will not be eliminated by Biden’s green energy agenda which includes EV mandates. During his visit with UAW members...

Ford repeatedly defended the proposed billion-dollar factory despite its reliance on Chinese company for key technology ... Ford Motor Company announced Monday that it would pause construction of a billion-dollar plant in Michigan involving a Chinese electric vehicle battery company. ... national security experts have blasted the company for teaming up with a Chinese firm with ties to the Chinese Communist Party on such a major investment. The plan had been considered for Virginia, though it never reached a final discussion stage. Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin opposed the plant over China's potential influence in the plan and argued that "CATL...