I’d put a bit of an asterisk beside the carmarkers. In most cases, they are only pro gas due to demand and cost. For the most part, they are perfectly willing to switch if they know the sales will be there.
Except they’re not. Basically every automaker that sells in America has cut plans for EVs instead of lowering the price to a point people can afford it (and they’d still make profit)
Without going into too much detail and doxxing myself, this industry is my day job. The North American automakers are pretty agnostic when it comes to power train energy sources. The problem is that they are also aware of what sells. North America is still in love with trucks and SUVs, and without subsidies and incentives, the return on investment for converting those production lines simply wasn’t there. And they are not anywhere near ideological enough to persist with the conversation anyway.
The other problem is Trump himself. Actual investment by the automakers has fallen off a cliff ever since the tariffs started swinging back and forth. There’s nothing big business hates more than instability, so I’m guessing that the automakers are going to continue sitting on their hands, investing as little as possible until whatever administration comes next.
I mean there’s supply chain stuff, too. Isn’t that why Toyota dragged it’s feet so long? They were also pushing hydrogen over straight EV, weren’t they?
That probably factors into it too. The automakers have always preferred to have strong control over their suppliers, and doubly so after they played themselves with the chip makers during the pandemic. Battery plants take time to bring online, and unfortunately Trump’s bullshit kicked into high gear just as capacity was coming online, giving everyone cold feet.
I’d put a bit of an asterisk beside the carmarkers. In most cases, they are only pro gas due to demand and cost. For the most part, they are perfectly willing to switch if they know the sales will be there.
Except they’re not. Basically every automaker that sells in America has cut plans for EVs instead of lowering the price to a point people can afford it (and they’d still make profit)
Without going into too much detail and doxxing myself, this industry is my day job. The North American automakers are pretty agnostic when it comes to power train energy sources. The problem is that they are also aware of what sells. North America is still in love with trucks and SUVs, and without subsidies and incentives, the return on investment for converting those production lines simply wasn’t there. And they are not anywhere near ideological enough to persist with the conversation anyway.
The other problem is Trump himself. Actual investment by the automakers has fallen off a cliff ever since the tariffs started swinging back and forth. There’s nothing big business hates more than instability, so I’m guessing that the automakers are going to continue sitting on their hands, investing as little as possible until whatever administration comes next.
I mean there’s supply chain stuff, too. Isn’t that why Toyota dragged it’s feet so long? They were also pushing hydrogen over straight EV, weren’t they?
That probably factors into it too. The automakers have always preferred to have strong control over their suppliers, and doubly so after they played themselves with the chip makers during the pandemic. Battery plants take time to bring online, and unfortunately Trump’s bullshit kicked into high gear just as capacity was coming online, giving everyone cold feet.