Mike Colias and Christopher Otts of The Wall Street Journal report that automakers are delaying certain projects as the EV push faces pressure from regulators and China. They write:
Ford Motor’s decision this week to kill a highly touted future electric vehicle is a sign that the industry’s pullback on EVs is deepening.
The Dearborn, Mich., automaker said Wednesday it is canceling plans for an electric, family-hauler sport-utility vehicle that Chief Executive Jim Farley once touted as a “personalized bullet train.” The move added to the drumbeat of news from carmakers of delayed or scrapped investments into EV models, factories and battery projects.
General Motors, Volkswagen, Mercedes and other automakers also have curbed their EV ambitions in recent months. Taken together, the walked-back plans are an acknowledgment that the big investments outlined at the start of the decade got ahead of the consumer’s appetite for a full switch to EVs.
While surveys have shown that as many as half of U.S. consumers are open to buying an electric car, their relatively high prices and concerns over charger availability are dissuading many. […]
Instead of offering the larger electric SUV, Ford said it would offer hybrid, gas-electric versions in the future as well as focus on smaller EVs. It also delayed for a second time the opening of a new EV truck factory being built in Tennessee, the largest investment in its 120-year history, which is now set for a 2027 opening, two years later than initially planned.
“This is clearly a tough decision in the short-term, but we think makes sense in the medium- to long-term given what will likely be subpar economics,” in the market for electric SUVs, Bank of America analyst John Murphy said in an investor note. […]
Timothy Kraus, Dana’s chief financial officer, said during an Aug. 7 investor call that the company still believes EVs and hybrids will become significant parts of the U.S. industry.
“Like most things that are new or disruptive, a lot of times forecasts and expectations can get ahead of some of the practicalities,” Kraus said.
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