Sometimes I'll write about a subject, and then nothing newsworthy happens for weeks, maybe even months. It'll kinda go dormant until I stumble across a nugget interesting enough to share with you all.
And then sometimes the nuggets pile onto each other, which is what has happened this morning with something I just wrote about yesterday - more evidence that the slowdown in electric vehicle demand, no matter what governments did to either mandate their purchase or sweeten the pot with manufacturing or consumer subsidies, was for reals.
For a government-mandated, bet-the-farm sure thing, our purely electric vehicle future sure has been nothing but an ongoing litany of bad news. I, for one, sure have been fascinated watching - and documenting - as the whole grifting Green, not-ready-for-prime-time scheme falls apart in real-time.
...Well, shoot. What happened there?
...It noted that it is also considering the restructuring or potential shutdown of its Audi plant in Brussels, where it employs 3,000 people, on the back of weak demand for the Audi Q8 e-tron line — a fully electric offering from the brand, launched in 2019.
My post talked about problems the European and Chinese manufacturers were dealing with, specifically, but I've covered the slowdown US extensively. Including the various implosions of independent EV manufacturers, the US EV market is going through what might generously be called an "adjustment" - their sky high sales expectations, again fueled by government mandates and subsidies, are in no way being met by consumer demand, and that is across the board.
By the way, can you tell it's an election year?
Lookee what news broke this morning.
The Energy Department is giving out $1.7 billion in grants to GM, Stellantis, Volvo Group and several suppliers to help support the industry's EV transition. https://t.co/SzRNIdEWcJ
— Automotive News (@Automotive_News) July 11, 2024
Aw. It's just money. Although I believe the technical term is a "buttload" of money.
The federal government will grant car and auto parts factories in eight states $1.7 billion to begin producing electric vehicles and other clean energy technology, the Biden administration announced on Thursday.
Among the 11 recipients will be a Jeep factory in Belvidere, Ill., that the brand’s parent company Stellantis closed last year. The money will allow the plant to reopen and produce electric vehicles, officials said, restoring almost 1,450 jobs.
Other beneficiaries include a factory in Georgia that plans to make Blue Bird electric school buses, a General Motors factory in Michigan that will shift production from gasoline to electric vehicles, and a Harley-Davidson factory in Pennsylvania that will increase production of electric motorcycles.
The funding helps to address fears that electric vehicles will endanger jobs at factories that make gasoline-powered vehicles or parts for internal combustion engines as the industry shifts to E.V.s. To qualify for the money, companies had to commit to retraining their existing workers.
I also believe it's in a subcategory called "buying union votes with taxpayer dollars." I could be wrong, but I don't think so.
FACTORIES WHERE AGAIN?
...Several of the factories are in Pennsylvania, Michigan or Georgia, states where narrow margins will determine the outcome of the presidential election. President Biden, in a statement, sought to contrast his industrial policies with those of former President Donald J. Trump.
IT'S OKAY, KIDS - IT'S ALL INFLATION REDUCTION ACT MONEY, NOT TAXPAYERS'
Ain't nuthin' but a good thang.
...Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm informed reporters the awards were a “hallmark of the Biden administration’s industrial strategy” and would “modernize historical auto manufacturing facilities,” Reuters added.
POTATUS STRA-TEE-GERY
Let's fire up closed factories for a product that doesn't really seem to have an upswell of demand going for it. Battery EV sales are stagnant - that means basically dead in the water, POTATUS - only up .5% from a year ago. That's with big discounts to move the stock overloads the bigger manufacturers had sitting on lots for months and reducing production lines, if not doing away with some of them completely.
What about any of those facts says dump almost two billion federal dollars into more parts and production?
Other than blatantly greasing the skids for your party's survival.
EV sales stagnate.
— DonKeiller (@KeillerDon) July 10, 2024
The country is running out of gullible idiots to buy them#ElectricCars #CostofNetZero #ClimateScam https://t.co/QyrbgZatUG
BEV sales have been so bad that Korean battery makers who bet the farm on a US EV boom are now teetering on the edge of annihilation (thanks to "disappointing EV sales") and blaming US automakers.
"South Korean battery makers had been “badly let down” by US car manufacturers, which he said had failed to produce EVs sufficiently attractive to mass market consumers to meet their own bullish sales projections."https://t.co/LGPCKfsbyh
— Damien Ma (@damienics) July 7, 2024
In fact, there's been a healthy retrenchment as more folks become acquainted with EVs. A sizeable portion wants their old mode of transportation back.
Forty-six percent of current electric vehicle (EV) owners in the United States told McKinsey & Co. they would likely switch back to an internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicle during the firm’s 2024 Mobility Consumer Global Survey.
Globally, 29% of EV owners are considering switching back to ICE, the survey results show.
Thirty-five percent of respondents said an inadequate charging infrastructure was one reason they wanted to switch. Other top answers included total costs of ownership and too much impact on long-distance trips.
These also were the top concerns for 21% of respondents globally who said they would never want to switch to an EV. The number remained unchanged from 2022 and declined by 3% from 2021.
"Too much impact on long-distance trips" translates to "they're still a massive pain in the asterisk to take anywhere outside your local area." Again, this drawback ensures that EVs are not destined to take over the US market anytime in the next couple of decades.
There is no justification for what this shameless administration is doing. None other than vote buying.
As far as EVs, I dunno - schmaybe slow down and work out the bugs first? People like hybrids more and more. Why not encourage more of those, even though they do use the dreaded "gasoline"?
Nah...who am I talking about here?
THROW ME THE MONEY
If Trump's elected, you know those factories wind down almost immediately. I'll be surprised if they ever actually spool up, as there's not enough time to do the paperwork, less mind retool before 5 November.
Unlike POTATUS and his idiot energy secretary, who blithely write checks with other people's money and have no concept of leaving anything in the till for a rainy day, business executives have to watch how the wind's blowing before they commit to spending a dime...even if the money was free to begin with.
We can't get rid of this pathetic group of grifters soon enough.
I just hope there's something left on the bones when we finally boot them.
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