EV Sales Are In Big Trouble

usually just posting on Thursdays, but this is an extra…

giant earth movers for mining minerals for EV batteries

Automakers are losing money on EVs hand over fist. I don’t mean to pick on Ford, they’re a great company, but these are the facts I have in front of me at the moment… for example, Ford projects a loss of over 4 Billion dollars (!!) just for 2023. (Fortunately, they’re making money on their good ‘ol standby, their Ford gas and diesel pickups.) The demand for EVs isn’t anywhere near what they thought it would be, and at the same time, their costs are much higher than they thought they would be. That’s a formula for economic disaster in the EV department.

As I was writing this, I had the Fox Business News Channel on in the background, and lo and behold, they did a piece on Ford’s dealer inventory slowdown. The average non-luxury car is $44,626, and their EV (not sure what model they were talking about) is $50,683, but with no takers - so they’re having to discount the EVs. Even so, the much larger ICE inventory has a turnover of about 55 days, while the EV inventory turnover is still a sluggish 97 days.

Energy expert Robert Bryce noted “Last month, Ford said it was halting work on an EV battery plant in Marshall, Michigan, that could get billions of dollars in tax credits under the Inflation Reduction Act.” See Robert Bryce’s whole substack article here

I might have bought one

At first, electric cars sounded great. They’re pollution free, (at least once they’ve been manufactured and are on the road; more on that later), they’re quiet, you won’t have to buy gas, they have less moving parts and therefore lower maintenance costs, and they deliver maximum power immediately at startup…I was thinking about buying one, if they ever were to become affordable. I did buy an electric bike, in case of gas rationing which I remember from 1974, and I confess the bike is fun to ride, which was an unexpected bonus. I can assist the little motor on the hills by pedaling, which is good exercise - too bad we can’t use pedals to help electric cars on the hills - haha

but some ‘inconvenient truths’ started coming out

Then we gradually started getting reminders that if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Batteries can catch on fire and destroy the whole car because those kinds of fires are extremely hard to put out. The risk of fires is especially high if coastal roads get flooded with salt water. That’s scary. In fact, most of the negatives about EVs are related to the batteries. Supposedly good for a 10 year life, many have become nearly unusable in a practical sense before that, because their power and range continually decrease from day one, just like any battery. The cost of replacing a battery is very high. This adds up to a rapid decline in resale or trade-in value.

I suspect that the advertised range before needing a recharge is probably based on tests on a nice level road, and not during stop and go traffic jams. So if you live in a hilly area or heavy traffic area, your range will be less. If it gets cold out, your range will be less - batteries don’t like cold temperatures. If it gets hot out and you turn the air conditioner on, your range will be less. The heavier your load (like pulling a trailer) the lower your range. People started finding these things out by bitter experience, because these kinds of facts certainly weren’t advertised. But word gets around.

Then there’s the problem of paying a bundle to have an electrician install a charging system in your garage. And if you’re thinking of a road trip, you’d better know how far it is between charging stations. By the way, 6% of the charging stations need repair, and there is a shortage of electricians to repair them.

Then we also learned about the supply problems for chips, partially created by the fact that EVs are made with twice as many chips as ICE (internal combustion engine) vehicles.

As if all that weren’t enough to put a damper on EV sales, you’re dead in the water when there’s a power outage, because you can’t recharge your battery. (Imagine being unable to evacuate in an emergency because your battery can’t be recharged because the power grid is down. This is what happened in LaHaina, Hawaii.) And ironically, it sounds like we can expect more power outages, because there are already enough EVs on the road to push the limits of our electric grid system.

pressure to not recharge your car during certain times

during a heat wave last summer, Californians were urged to not charge their cars from 4-9PM, because the grid was in danger of blackout.

Here’s another example - “Switzerland may ban electric vehicles from being used except for “essential” purposes this winter as government officials plan for a possible energy crisis during the winter months. Swiss officials drafted emergency proposals that restrict power usage if electricity shortages occur this winter…The irony of the electric vehicle restriction is that present government policy has electric vehicles ramping up to 50 percent of new car sales by 2025.”

I don’t know about you, but I want a car that I can use any time I want to! The reason governments and power companies are thinking about restricting use of EVs is because the electric grid has become more and more unreliable due to the increase of renewable energy in the form of wind and solar, which doesn’t work when there’s not enough wind or when the sun aint shining - but that’s another story.

secret diesel backup

We have to laugh when we hear that the largest EV charging station in the world is powered by diesel generators! So much for EVs being carbon-free!

the hidden amount of carbon emissions behind the production of EVs

EVs are impossible without batteries, and there’s an increase in mining for the special minerals needed to make those batteries. Tons and tons of ore need to be moved to get those rare minerals. Most mining is done with monster earth moving machines that run on guess what? – diesel, of course.

until next time…