Free Republic

Joe Biden’s massive electric vehicle (EV) agenda will subsidize the lifestyles of America’s well-to-do while hitting average people the hardest.... The Biden administration is aggressively regulating the U.S. auto market to drastically increase the proportion of EVs sold over the coming decade, but consumer demand has not taken off as quickly as proponents had projected despite the subsidies made available by Biden’s flagship climate bill, the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). Manufacturers are slashing prices of their EVs to make the vehicles more appealing to consumers, which will increase prices for internal combustion engine (ICE) cars to compensate; this dynamic will...

The passage of the Inflation Reduction Act propelled forward President Joe Biden’s vision of a clean energy economy. As outlined in a 2023 guidebook, this remaking of the U.S. economy includes billions in funding for green tech manufacturing — everything from hydrogen production to batteries to solar panels. The plan will not only create jobs and investments for Americans, according to the Biden administration, it will lower the nation’s dependence on China, which currently controls 80% of the global production in polysilicon and other components used in solar panels, 80% of wind-turbine components, and 89% of the refining to produce...

Ford is starting 2024 off strong with EV sales up 86% through the first three months. The growth was enough for Ford to place second in the US EV market behind only Tesla. Ford’s sales surge comes after slashing prices earlier this year. Ford takes second behind Tesla in the US EV market. Ford announced that electric vehicle sales increased 86%, with 20,223 EVs sold through the first quarter of 2024. The F-150 Lightning remained America’s best-selling electric pickup, with 7,743 units handed over, topping Rivian’s R1T. Meanwhile, Mustang Mach-E sales surged 77% YOY with 9,589 electric SUVs handed over....

On Tuesday’s broadcast of the Fox News Channel’s “America Reports,” Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg stated that “the automotive sector is moving towards EVs” and China pushed for an advantage in the EV market “because that’s the economically smart play” but “we can’t just sit back and let this happen on its own pace” because there’s a competition between the U.S. and China. Co-host John Roberts asked, “Tesla sales fell 8.5% the first quarter of this year, Ford, this week, is laying off two-thirds of its workforce at the F-150 electric Lightning plant, it’s also scaling back a battery production facility...

Ford will need to build two fully electric F150s for every gas-powered F150. By 2032, the company will need to build four electric F150s for every gas-powered F150. The Environmental Protection Agency has released its final tailpipe emissions standards, which some have called an electric vehicle mandate. “Make no mistake: This is a coerced phase-out of gas-powered cars,” the Wall Steet Journal editorial board recently opined on the final rules. The 1,181-page rule doesn’t require auto manufacturers to produce any electric vehicles, and the EPA insists the rule is not an EV mandate. “The standards continue the technology-neutral and performance-based...

Electric-vehicle startup Fisker said on Wednesday it was cutting the prices of its 2023 electric Ocean SUV model, signaling an attempt by the cash-strapped firm to drum up demand and ease concerns regarding its uncertain future. The company slashed the price tag of the entry level version - Ocean Sport - by around 36%, or $14,000, bringing it down to $24,999 from $38,999 earlier. The company said it will reduce the price of the top-end version of the vehicle, called "Extreme", by around 39%, or $24,000, to $37,499. Fisker also cut the price of its Ocean Ultra version to $34,999...

Tesla and China built a symbiotic relationship, with credits, workers and parts that made Mr. Musk ultrarich. Now, his reliance on the country may give Beijing leverage. When Elon Musk unveiled the first Chinese-made Teslas in Shanghai in 2020, he went off script and started dancing. Peeling off his jacket, he flung it across the stage in a partial striptease. Mr. Musk had reason to celebrate. A few years earlier, with Tesla on the brink of failure, he had bet on China, which offered cheap parts and capable workers — and which needed Tesla as an anchor to jump-start its...

The Biden administration’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has revealed its ambition: to phase out gas-powered cars in favor of electric vehicles (EVs). Incredibly, this announcement comes as we are flooded with overwhelming evidence that EVs are a market loser. Indeed, the artificial boom and then meltdown of the EV market is a modern industrial calamity. It was created by government, social media, wild disease frenzy, far-flung thinking, and the irrational chasing of utopia, followed by a rude awakening by facts and reality. CEO of Hertz Stephen Scherr has been booted out due to a vast purchase of an EV fleet...

A.I. is rigged. When looking up any question susceptible of a liberal bias, A.I. appears to provide a biased answer. Today I asked my A.I. “copilot,” “How long does it take to re-fuel a gas-powered car?” Even without being asked, my copilot insisted on comparing fueling time for gas-powered cars to charging times for E.V.s, concluding that “in summary, while gas refueling is faster in the worst-case scenario, considering overall monthly time spent, E.V.s are more efficient in terms of charging time.” I didn’t even ask about charging time for E.V.s, but A.I. insisted on comparing E.V.s with gas-powered cars...

The startup electric car company Fisker said this week that it is halting the production of its vehicles to raise $150 million in emergency funds as it grapples with a cash crunch spurred by a low demand for electric vehicles. The California-based company, which says its mission is to “create the world’s most emotional and sustainable electric vehicles,” has barely produced over a thousand electric vehicles worldwide for the year. “The company has approximately 4,700 vehicles in its currently inventory, carried over from 2023 and including 2024 production,” the company said. “While it has not completed an NRV analysis for...

As John Adams said:Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passions, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence.Now, if Stephen Scherr had taken Adams’s observation into consideration, he might still have a job. (However, no sympathy from me; he’ll be employed in no time at all, making more bad decisions that inevitably cost me money, in one way or another.) From a report at the New York Post this afternoon:Hertz, one of the four largest car rental companies in the world, is replacing its CEO after the company...

Electric vehicle start-up Fisker is exploring bankruptcy, The Wall Street Journal reported this week. Fisker’s stock plunged this week as investors worry about the company’s ability to survive amid a cash crunch. The auto company also said it would slash 15% of its workforce. The Wall Street Journal reported: Electric-vehicle startup Fisker FSR -55.88%decrease; red down pointing triangle has hired restructuring advisers to assist with a possible bankruptcy filing, according to people familiar with the matter. Fisker, which recently warned that it risked running out of cash this year, hired financial adviser FTI Consulting and the law firm Davis Polk...

Automakers from Ford Motor and General Motors to Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen, Jaguar Land Rover and Aston Martin are scaling back or delaying their electric vehicle plans.. consumer demand for EVs hasn’t shown up in the way executives had expected ... The buzz around electric vehicles is wearing off. For years, the automotive industry has been in a state of EV euphoria. Automakers trotted out optimistic sales forecasts for electric models and announced ambitious targets for EV growth. Wall Street boosted valuations for legacy automakers and startup entrants alike, based in part on their visions for an EV future. Now the hype...

Updated Information This story has been updated with a statement from the Georgia Department of Economic Development and Joint Development Authority of Jasper, Morgan, Newton, and Walton Counties. (The Center Square) — While Rivian Automotive paused its $5 billion plant in Georgia, state officials declined to say how — or if — they might attempt to claw back massive taxpayer-backed incentives they offered the company. In December 2021, state officials announced that Rivian planned to build a manufacturing facility in Georgia — its second U.S. plant. Georgia gave $1.5 billion in incentives and the deal was so significant that state...

Fischer: Last year the University of Nebraska at Lincoln campus conducted a first of its kind crash test of an electric pickup truck to study whether current Highway guard rails adequately protect against the growing number of those heavy EVS that are on our roads. At 60 miles per hour the 7,000 lb electric truck tore through the barrier without offering any protection to the traveling public or reduction in speed. I've recently heard from First Responders that are also concerned about responding to electric vehicle fires. 40% of firefighters have never had EV fire safety training and I've heard...

MORGAN COUNTY, Ga. — Plans for electric vehicle company Rivian to build a $5 billion plant in Georgia have hit a bump in the road. Founder and CEO R.J. Scaringe announced on Thursday two new vehicles, the R2 and R3. The R2 was initially planned to be built at the Georgia plant, but production will now be focused at its existing facility in Normal, Illinois, according to a news release. [snip] They say the timing for resuming construction on the Georgia facility is “expected to be later.” The company says launching production in Illinois will save them an estimated $2.25...

Two years ago, an emissions data firm known as Emissions Analytics, published a study that revealed E.V.s emitted more pollution than gas-powered cars, and the type of pollution they emitted is the most common vehicle-related environmental contamination. The study flew relatively under the radar until a few days ago.

What if regular cars had all the restrictions and ludicrous rules associated with EVs?

Electric vehicles may release more pollution than gas-powered vehicles, according to a report that has recently resurfaced. The study, which was published in 2022 but has begun circulating again after being cited in a WSJ op-ed, found that brakes and tires release 1,850 times more particulate matter compared to modern tailpipes which have filters that reduce emissions. It found that EVs are 30 percent heavier on average than gas-powered vehicles, which causes the brakes and tire treads to wear out faster than standard cars and releases tiny, often toxic particles into the atmosphere.

Lithium-ion batteries used in E-bikes and other electronic mobility devices are now a leading cause of fires in New York City following their popularity surged during the pandemic’s delivery boom, FDNY officials say. FDNY Chief Fire Marshal Daniel Flynn told The Post that fires related to lithium-ion batteries have gone up nearly nine-fold since the pandemic, with more blazes related to the batteries happening in the last two months than in all of 2019. “It’s the prevalence of these e-devices on our streets, there’s way more of them now than ever before,” Flynn said.