This is an incredible story which challenges the entire foundation of the electric vehicle (EV)ideology. Note that the EV ideology is rapidly advancing, with some jurisdictions enforcing by law, the phasing out of fossil-fuel powered vehicles. But the other side to this Green hysteria is that car manufacturers such as Ford, loses nearly $50,000 (£38,700) on every electric car it sells. Ford posted a loss of $1.1bn for its electric vehicle division, Ford E, which is equivalent to around $ US 47,600 per car. Vehicles run by batteries, are more expensive to make than conventional vehicles, and companies are struggling to reduce costs, while facing a wave of cheap Chinese EV imports, which must be allowed into the country because of the globalist ideology of free trade.
It really proves the saying, go woke, go broke. Ford looks like it will fall, being set to lose $ US 5 billion this year.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2024/07/25/ford-loses-50000-on-every-electric-car/.
"Ford loses nearly $50,000 (£38,700) on every electric car it sells, results from the company show, as traditional manufacturers struggle with the switch away from petrol.
The company posted a loss of $1.1bn for its electric vehicle division, Ford E – equivalent to about $47,600 per car. It sold 23,957 electric vehicles (EVs), an increase of 61pc from a year earlier.
The numbers contributed to a torrid first half in which Ford E lost $2.5bn, with the business on track to lose $5bn overall this year.
Ford blamed a price war across the industry for the loss, which came despite efforts to slash costs by $400m.
The stark figures underline the huge sums of cash even mass market car manufacturers are burning through as they electrify their product line-ups. The $50,000 loss per car was first reported by industry expert Robert Bryce in his Substack newsletter.
Battery-powered cars are more expensive to produce than their internal combustion engine counterparts, complicating government efforts to slash carbon emissions by mandating their sale in greater numbers. Meanwhile, a wave of Chinese rivals are seeking to enter the market with cheap mass-produced EVs of their own.
That has prompted some countries to offer generous subsidies to make their domestic EVs more attractive, with the US providing consumers with a $7,500 tax credit per car under the Biden administration's Inflation Reduction Act.
It also poses a major challenge for Sir Keir Starmer's Government as the Prime Minister prepares to tighten up Britain's regulatory regime by moving forward a ban on new petrol car sales from 2035 to 2030.
The ban was delayed five years to 2035 by Rishi Sunak as recently as September last year. But Sir Keir has vowed to undo that change.
However, at the same time, Labour has yet to set out whether it will attempt to boost take-up – which has been flagging among private consumers since last year – by offering financial incentives to consumers.
Major car manufacturers, including the Vauxhall owner Stellantis, have also criticised regulations introduced by the Tory government earlier this year. The Zero Emission Vehicle (Zev) Mandate gradually ratchets up the proportion of electric cars they sell between 2024 and 2030, starting at 22pc initially and rising to 80pc.
Meanwhile, carmakers are being forced to sell EVs at big discounts to shift them, according to monthly data from Auto Trader.
Stellantis has accused the Government of moving ahead of consumer demand and threatened to close its factories in the UK if the regime is not relaxed, amid complaints the targets risk pushing its British division into the red.
Mike Hawes, chief executive of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), which represents the industry, also warned that a failure to offer financial incentives to consumers would force car makers to continue swallowing losses.
Speaking on Wednesday, he said: "[The ZEV mandate] compelled the supply of the vehicles, it can't compel the demand. It is tough out there ... It's not linear, it's quite bumpy. And that bumpiness has been seen here in UK and across Europe.
"The difference being, we don't have the incentive framework in place for private consumers that many European markets do.
"We need to sell those vehicles now. We're required to sell them now. And that means making sure we're pulling every lever to increase that demand. We've invested, and continue to invest as an industry, huge amounts of money. We can't sustain that forever."