High costs and low performance undermines green agenda
EV sales in North America face new market realities and automakers are shifting their production to meet actual, rather than anticipated demand. After being encouraged by government policy to invest tens of billions of dollars to transition to electric vehicles, companies are rapidly changing gears.
As Sam Fiorani, Vice President of AutoForecast Solutions observed in March, “Getting the first 10 per cent of the electric vehicle market is relatively easy with a good product and a market that wants that product. The next 90 per cent will be much harder to convert.”
For some customers, the high cost, even with substantial government subsidies, is a major constraint, especially during a period of high inflation. The lack of adequate charging facilities is another. Although the U.S. Administration allocated US $7.5 billion in the “Inflation Reduction Act” to construct new charging facilities, only seven were built in two years. Ironically, most charging stations rely heavily on fossil fuels for power.
For the rest of this column: https://nationalpost.com/opinion/derek-evs-sales-and-production-clash-with-market-realities