Electric vehicles aren’t going away just yet, but the industry has been having a rough year. Multiple manufacturers have scaled back production and retooled EV facilities for gas-powered vehicles or, like Ford, are shifting some capacity from EV-only to Gas Hybrid.
The company said it won’t build fully electric three-row SUVs due to battery costs. It’ll instead focus on making the SUVs as gas-electric hybrids while manufacturing two new electric pickup trucks and a new commercial van.
The changes will force Ford to write down $400 million of its current assets for big electric SUVs, and it also expects to have additional expenses of up to $1.5 billion.
Ford also has pushed back the launch of a new electric pickup truck until 2027.
That sounds like a very diplomatic way of saying that between the Biden/Harris economy and the rising raw materials costs, we could build it, but who could afford to buy it? And seeing as we’re supposed to be making money, not writing off hundreds of millions every fiscal year because the government has its head up our tailpipe, maybe we can get by going halfway.
Hybrids are a great idea (ask Toyota). They cost less to make, make more sense, charge the battery while running on motor fuel, and are less likely to suffer the slings and arrows of lithium pack misfortune. Sadly, if we can’t get Trump back into the Oval Office in mostly one piece, the emissions mandates won’t go away. That’s not the end of the world. The political class is corrupt. Automakers can probably buy themselves a few more years with the right “incentives.” And it’s not like new or even used cars are getting cheaper, so the progressive impulse to price people out of things they don’t like won’t be burdened. And green is, after all, about money, not the planet. I’m sure they’ll work something out.
