Ford’s electric vehicle unit reported that losses soared in the first quarter to $1.3 billion, or $132,000 for each of the 10,000 vehicles it sold in the first three months of the year, helping to drag down earnings for the company overall.
Ford, like most automakers, has announced plans to shift from traditional gas-powered vehicles to EVs in coming years. But it is the only traditional automaker to break out results of its retail EV sales. And the results it reported Wednesday show another sign of the profit pressures on the EV business at Ford and other automakers.
No problem. Just add $132,000 to the cost of their EVs and they will … break even.
Nope. That loss will get added to the cost of EVERY other automobile they sell … read: every ICE automobile.
Talk about your Inflation Acceleration Act … passed by the Biden Admin. EV’s accelerating inflation in “insane mode”
I thought it was the Acceleration Reduction Act. Trying to shut down the auto industry.
Yesterday here at SDA I’d commented that at least Toyota/Honda seemed to be moving forward with hydrogen, the Premier of AB had mentioned that AB is a leader in hydrogen capability, and that I’d likely follow Toyota/Honda over anything that Stellantis GM Ford VW etc offer.
https://www.smalldeadanimals.com/2024/04/24/we-dont-need-no-flaming-sparky-cars-173/#comments
Today, Honda announces a $11 billion investment in battery manufacture with $2.5 billion in tax credits from the trough of the federal gov’t. The Turd himself states this is $15 billion, which shouldn’t surprise anyone, I mean, why not $20 billion?
It appears I’ll be driving my 19 years old car for as long as I am able.
whatever.
Hydrogen is useless as a fuel for cars.
Yep. Too many steps. Decades and trillions in the future maybe.
Instead of just burning fuel in an engine, let’s burn fuel at a power plant, make electricity, turn water into hydrogen, lose half cooling and compressing it, transport it,, pump it, only to turn it back into electricity in an expensive unreliable device.
Not to mention that you need energy to store it cryogenically if you want any reasonable energy density, and storing compressed gas causes hydrogen brittleization of the tank walls.
Totally useless as a fuel for cars.
Agreed everything written in this string. And it’s completely pointless. Nature has already provided a highly reliable container for hydrogen in the chemical form CH4.
Oh, I dunno, hydrogen worked pretty well for the Hindenburg.
So then, the science is settled. Alrighty then !
My point is that if it’s a war between Toyota/Honda and GM Ford Stellantis VW, I think the smart money is with Toyota/Honda. The tech is on the way, BMW as well has stopped purely EV to go with a hybrid of hydrogen / EV. Tesla is still spending research on hydrogen as well and hasn’t closed the book.
I don’t think it’s helpful to be an absolutist on what pushes vehicles forward, “Stanley Steamers” are fair game in my books.. and when the gov’t decides who are the winners and who are the losers, it’s the tax paying citizenry which will take it on the chin.
As is shown by the massive gov’t handouts to say yet again, “look at us, we’re doing something” regardless of the unending EV failures along the way.
I’m also fine with AB cleaning up and using 100% of what lays in their oil sands, even more so with a nuclear power plant to heat up the ground. I like oil and nat gas and don’t like gov’t extending mandates to how we toil at the tax farm.
They extrat most hydrogen from natural gas. Which works rather well as a motor fuel. But nnnnoooooo, can’t just run that, need to overcomplicate everything…
Just put the Nat gas in the car if you must, but hydrogen is dangerous, hard to store in expensive tanks, etc. etc.
You mean that commercial from a few years ago that hydrogen was our saviour because it works very well, and all you “pollute” is a few drops of water out the tailpipe?
On topic: haven’t you seen the kewl new Ford commercial with its E-150 and E-‘stang? Replete with numerous vizmins, women (presumably) and stuff we all do with truck, like…pottery.
That’s awesome. We’re going to ban IC engines because of CO2 which is not a greenhouse gas, and replace them with hydrogen, the exhaust of which is water vapour, which is a greenhouse gas. (Deserts are hot during the day and cold at night because there is no water vapour in the air to hold heat. Hot humid climates are still hot after the sun goes down because the water vapour holds heat)
Ford slowed/stopped development of the hydrogen ICE, and hydrogen fuel cell somewhere around 2008/9. They had running Fusions, including one that set a land speed record at Bonneville.
The problems haven’t changed since then.
Going broke before the massive lawsuits coming for this whole dangerous enterprise of experimentation.
The haven’t addressed the health effects that they will be causing to humans and animals alike.
Not much that our government touches that turns to crap.
Experts my ass!
I wonder whether the auto industry will continue to do as they’re told, even unto bankruptcy, or whether they will finally tell gov’ts to butt out, and let the market decide. My bet is the former.
I’m still driving my ’08 4cyl Tacoma that gets around 30 MPG. I will never buy an EV of any kind.
I’m still driving my 2006 4cyl Tacoma, and I will drive it till I can’t drive anymore.
Sadly stevie getting parts will be a problem. We have a 17 year old Hyundai and some parts are not available. I think this year, it’s 18th, will be the last year for it.
“My bet is the former.”
You would lose. The giants in the auto industry like Ford, General Motors and Toyota are already dropping production of EVs. Tesla is cutting production runs of its EVS. Honda’s huge investment in Alliston is simply a grift for government money.
They are all bailing out, and this will accelerate as the government subsidy programs expire.
I disagree. They have dropped production of EVs for now. But they’re buggers for subsidies. The whole auto industry is one big subsidy. And the guy with the deepest pockets is the taxpayer. Unfortunately.
The biggest problem with the auto industry is they no longer make money. They only make money on fully-loaded trucks and SUVs. This makes them highly dependent on subsidies like lower taxes, start-up funding, employment insurance guarantees for workers temporarily “laid off” while the auto makers retool or just slow production and so on.
The first stage was union power controlling the auto companies. Then the unions started influencing the government (stage 2). The next stage will be full reliance on the government. Then the government will move on to other industries like mining and oil & gas. There is a plan.
Lowering tax is not a subsidy. A subsidy is a direct cash handout.
If they no longer make money, they go out of business. Dozens worldwide have gone out of business since 1960.
Lowering tax for a specific company is a subsidy to that company. Directly handing out money to a company is also a subsidy. Lowering tax for an entire industry is not a subsidy, but it is playing favorites and needs to be regulated. For example, allowing oil & gas companies to write off dead wells keeps them drilling and doesn’t favor any of the oil & gas companies. It’s a fair trade-off. Giving Petro Canada a special tax break is a subsidy. Letting a company off the hook for polluting is a subsidy.
cghCOLON
It is against the law to allow governments to mandate your production, when it causes financial down turns or failures. So law suits are in the making, by share holders.
Putin’s Pimp, government can mandate whatever it likes. It cannot prevent a company from closing down, turning off the lights and walking away.
Yep! Methinks real estate in and around Galt’s Gulch may soon be at a premium.
Governments mandating production is essentially fascism. And given that we have fascist governments in Ottawa and Washington and a few other places, expect it to happen.
How is it possible to lose $132,000 per car? These vehicles are meant for the general public, they’re not super-exclusive, hand-built luxury vehicles.
The economics of electric cars are are insane! And it’s all because governments decided to impose their will upon private enterprise. Is it because they are they ill-informed and scientifically ignorant, or is it because they want complete control over every aspect of our lives?
Could be both.
“How is it possible to lose $132,000 per car”
I know nothing, but for simplicity’s sake suppose it costs $132k to build a plant, you make one car and can’t sell it? Extrapolate as required, (or in this case not required).
$132k represents all the costs of design, engineering, tooling up production, etc, spread across the number of cars sold. Over time that goes down, but they still have to account for the money spent now.
Kanadians swallowed all the safety Karen BS, hook, line and sinker, and now we’re screwed. Abroad, you can get a brand-new Hilux for around $15 000.
Never forget, most Kanadians think the state should step in to protect them from cigarette smoke and lawn darts.
To think that such limp-wristed pussywillow buttercups could stand up for their rights is the height of folly.
yeahbutt
so whitch church do you frequent?, And yes I agree with your take.
Does the Hilux have safety glass, seat belts or air bags? Most Canadians spend more than $15,000 on options. They’re more Kim than Karen. The problem with the high cost of autos is the banks more than the car companies. Any poor slob can get a loan for a fully-loaded car so they by-pass the cheaper models. This raises the bar and soon you can’t find a vehicle without leather seats, manual transmission, alloy wheels. Oh sure you can order one, maybe. I tried to buy a brand new Camry years ago with the advertised manual transmission (you know …. starting as low as $19,999). The salesman said he had never seen a manual Camry in his life.
I’m a life long fan of electric vehicles, but I have known for several decades that the battery technology required does not exist.
As a wannabe engineer I grasp the principle that TANSTAAFL (there no such thing as a free lunch) means gaining in one area means a cost in another area including cost factors. The best solution is probably a mini nuclear reactor similar to those used in satellites. Suitably protected of course.
Consider NASA. They require, as always, high density, low weight and volume batteries for everything they launch. Hear of any such technology yet? All those who have heard of one at a cost affordable to you or your neighbors hold up your hands. No no! Keep them up so I can count them.
The most powerful nuclear fission reactor in space is around 7 horse-power (5 kW). Most are just RTGs with only a few watts.
Well tuned ICE engines are the way to go, maybe even hybrids.
Some very strong opinions expressed here on a viability of hydrogen as an automotive fuel.
My local gas station here in Vancouver has a hydrogen refueling pump (they added them two years ago). Talking to a couple of people filling up their hydrogen-powered vehicles, their common (and only) complaint seems to be the lack of fueling stations around town.
Doing a little research reveals some really nasty discussions/arguments about hydrogen vehicles vs EVs. People seem quite passionate about the issue on both sides, but my own opinion is this: when the largest and most successful car manufacturer IN THE WORLD spends years of research and billions of dollars developing a technology, maybe we should pay more attention to what they are telling us? They didn’t get to where they are by being stupid or shortsighted.
That same company has spent years and billions on EV research.
The bottlenecks for hydrogen and EVs are pretty much the same: Energy-density vs safety.
Mind you, that same company builds an ICE pickup that retails for less then $15 000 Cdn, but the safety Karens who run this craphole won’t let it get sold here.
“That same company has spent years and billions on EV research.”
Yes, before they built a single one. Despite taking flack from all sides in recent years, Toyota stuck by their “we won’t build it until we are satisfied with the technology” philosophy. Good for them.
“The bottlenecks for hydrogen and EVs are pretty much the same: Energy-density vs safety.”
True. I like their idea about using electricity to power an onboard hydrogen generator, though…it has some promise.
“Mind you, that same company builds an ICE pickup that retails for less then $15 000 Cdn, but the safety Karens who run this craphole won’t let it get sold here.”
I’d heard that somewhere. Shameful.
Again … it’s all going according to plan … make automobiles utterly unaffordable and bankrupt the automakers … esp. those Family-owned automakers who refused government bailouts (read: government control)
Stupid consumers. They produce a perfectly good, expensive, low function, occasionally flamey and toxic smokey car and you lot wont buy it. Is it the child labor thing? dont worry , that’s over there, you dont need think of that.