U.S. auto manufacturers are cancelling plans for the production of electric vehicles (EVs) and EV batteries. Their decisions follow both an observed drop in demand and consistently rising costs on the production end, making the overall venture less and less profitable.
Straight Arrow News contributor Peter Zeihan argues that this was inevitable. He alleges that the data behind EV production in states like California knowingly and deliberately discounts the fossil fuel imports that producers depend on in order to make green EVs appear more realistic than they actually are. The result—auto manufacturers cancelling plans and orders—was always bound to happen. Furthermore, the astonishing resource demands of the projects, Zeihan argues, were never realistic to begin with.
An excerpt from Peter’s Nov. 2 “Zeihan on Geopolitics” newsletter:
When the major auto manufacturers start changing their EV plans, it’s probably a sign something’s not quite right. For all those who think they’re better than everyone else because they drive a Tesla, this video is for you…
Most people see electric vehicles and think it’s good, but remember to read that fine print. Given an increased reliance on Chinese manufacturing and issues with the energy mix and materials, those “planet-haters” driving internal combustion vehicles likely have a smaller carbon footprint than EV drivers.
Transitioning the world’s fleet of cars to EVs is just plain impractical unless we uncover a bottomless supply of materials and invent a new battery chemistry. Until that happens, we’ll continue to see EV sales fall and auto manufacturers lean away from EV plans.
In an ideal world, we would prioritize more practical green technologies instead of pissing away capital and resources on Elon’s new Model XYZ123.