Should the government build a network of electric vehicle charging stations?

Political Divisions Damage U.S. Auto Industry

The U.S. auto industry needs regulatory certainty from politicians in Washington and the back and forth as the White House changes hands doesn't help, but the adoption rate of electric vehicles will continue to grow, Ford Motor's (F.N), opens new tab executive chairman Bill Ford said on Wednesday.The CEO of Ford said when he talks with politicians in Washington, he gets very different viewpoints from the two parties.He said Republicans question the need for EVs, saying the U.S. sector trails China and they don't want to use Chinese technology. Meanwhile, Democrats are pushing the industry to make more EVs and asking what they can do to accelerate the process.The Biden administration last month handed Detroit automakers a major win by easing proposed rules that would have forced them to scale back production of gas-guzzling vehicles or face billions of dollars in fines.Bill Ford said the transition to EVs will be gradual and determined by consumers. "We're not shoving anything down anybody's throat," he said.The growth rate on EV sales has slowed, but globally they are being adopted quickly and Ford will follow even as it hedges it bets with its gasoline-powered and hybrid electric vehicles, he said at a Detroit Free Press event outside Detroit.While not commenting on the race between U.S. President Joe Biden, a Democrat, and former president Donald Trump, a Republican, Bill Ford said he wishes the country would pick a path so the industry can plan better."Our planning timeframe is a lot longer than election cycles," he said."We can do almost anything as a company, and frankly as an industry, as long as we have some certainty towards where we're headed," Bill Ford added. "The problem is when we're whipsawed back and forth by politicians. We can't turn on a dime. Just pick a path and we'll go for it."Michigan is a key battleground state in the election this fall and both Biden and Trump have been speaking to voters, including many industry workers, about the challenges the U.S. auto sector faces. Trump has charged that Biden’s policies will kill auto jobs and aid China’s surging EV industry.Ford Motor on Tuesday resumed shipments of its F-150 Lightning electric pickup after an undisclosed quality issue led to a nine-week halt starting in February.Earlier this month, Ford cut prices of some Lightning variants by as much as $5,500, and it previously cut prices on its Mustang Mach-E electric SUV by up to $8,100 after sales fell.Also this month, Ford delayed the planned launches of three-row EVs in Canada and next-generation electric pickup truck built planned for production in Tennessee.Ford CEO Jim Farley has said the U.S. automaker was committed to scaling up its EV business profitably. It lost nearly $4.7 billion on its EV business in 2023 and projected it will lose $5 billion to $5.5 billion this year.

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California Sets A Nationwide Electric Vehicle Mandate

Where are the antitrust cops when you need them? Stellantis and California this week struck a deal to protect the state’s electric-vehicle mandate from future political and legal challenges. Here’s another illustration of collusion between big government and big business that hurts Americans.The California Air Resources Board (CARB) has banned the sale of new gas-powered cars in the state by 2035. Unlike Biden Administration officials, progressives in Sacramento are honest about their plan to phase-out gas-powered cars. EV sales will have to ramp up fast over the next decade, making up 51% of sales by 2028 and 100% by 2035.A Clean Air Act waiver from the Biden Environmental Protection Agency lets California impose its own greenhouse-gas emissions standards and other states to follow them. While California is waiting on the EPA to extend its waiver through 2035, its EV mandate is already creating headaches for car companies.Auto makers essentially hedged their regulatory risk, knowing Mr. Trump could lose re-election or that his Administration could lose its legal battle with California. Their hedge paid off when Mr. Biden won and restored California’s waiver. Other auto makers that didn’t cut deals with California now operate at a regulatory disadvantage.In any case, the biggest losers of this “partnership” with California will be Americans across the country who will have fewer gas-powered options. California is imposing its EV mandate nationwide by using regulation to take auto makers hostage. Mr. Newsom may not be running for President in November, but he already acts as if he governs the country.

Car Dealers to Biden: EVs Aren’t Selling

You can subsidize a buyer into the auto showroom, but you can’t make him buy. That’s the word from some 3,900 car dealers across the country who on Tuesday wrote President Biden that electric vehicles are piling up unsold on their lots. They want relief from his onerous and unrealistic EV sales mandate.Dealers have a 103-day supply of EVs compared to 56 days for all cars. It takes them on average 65 days to sell an EV, about twice as long as for gas-powered cars. EV sales are slowing though manufacturers have slashed prices and increased discounts. Consumers paid on average $50,683 for an EV in September, compared to $65,000 a year ago.The reason, as the dealers explain, is that “early adopters formed an initial line and were ready to buy these vehicles as soon as we had them to sell.” But most consumers aren’t “ready to make the change,” in part because EVs are still too expensive. Many apartment renters also don’t have garages for home charging, and public charging networks are spotty with one in four not functional, according to one study.The dealers want the Administration to “tap the brakes” on its proposed tailpipe emissions rules that would effectively mandate that EVs comprise two-thirds of car sales by 2032. Auto makers might meet the government’s quotas in leftwing cities where Teslas are a political fashion statement, but price and convenience matter more elsewhere.