(RightWing.org) – Over the last few years, electric vehicles (EVs) have been the Next Big Thing. Now it looks as if the wheels might be coming off. Ford, which has gambled a big part of its future on the supposedly green technology, has just announced it’s taking a massive loss on every EV it sells.
Encouraging Americans to switch from internal combustion engines to EVs is a key part of President Biden’s green agenda. Manufacturers have been incentivized to produce EVs, and consumers to buy them. Ford has enthusiastically adopted the technology, releasing electric versions of popular models like the F-150 and Mustang. The trouble is, people don’t want to buy them.
On April 24, Model e, Ford’s EV unit, announced that in the first quarter of 2024 it lost $1.3 billion. That’s bad news for Ford however you look at it, but it gets worse when you know that Model e sold around around 10,000 vehicles over the quarter. This means the division took a loss of around $132,000 on each EV it sold — more than any of them actually sell for.
For comparison, the flagship F-150 Lightning electric truck sells for between $51,990 and $93,990 depending on options, while the Mustang Mach-E will cost you between $41,890 and $65,390.
According to Ford, there are several reasons for the huge losses. The cost of many materials and components that go into an EV has risen, but consumer demand for them is flatlining — at best. The simple truth is that the green enthusiasts who want an EV already have one, and ordinary drivers aren’t keen on their limited range, slow charging, and high cost.
In an effort to prop up flagging sales, manufacturers have been forced to cut prices. That already means EVs are being sold at a loss; Ford says it plans to have the price of its EVs covering the cost of building them inside the next 12 months, but it isn’t there yet. On top of that, the company is also spending hundreds of millions developing the next generation of EVs. The question is, will anyone want to buy them?
Copyright 2024, RightWing.org
