Tag: electric cars

EV Fiasco: Ford Lost $5.1 Billion on Electric Vehicles in 2024

Ford Motor Company has reported a $5.1 billion loss in its electric vehicle and software business for 2024, with expectations of losing even more in 2025.

The Verge reports that on Wednesday, Ford Motor Company announced its fourth quarter and full-year earnings for 2024, surpassing Wall Street expectations. However, the automaker also reported substantial losses in its electric vehicle (EV) and software division, known as Model e. The company lost $5.1 billion in this segment in 2024, a significant increase from the $4.7 billion lost in the previous year. Furthermore, Ford predicts that losses will continue to mount, potentially reaching $5.5 billion in 2025.

Despite these setbacks in the EV business, Ford’s traditional gas-powered vehicles continue to perform well, generating sufficient revenue to keep the company profitable overall. The automaker reported a full-year net income of $5.9 billion and an adjusted earnings of $10.2 billion. However, Ford cautioned that its earnings may drop by $2 billion or more in 2025 due to the costs associated with new vehicle launches and declining car prices.

During the earnings call, CEO Jim Farley addressed concerns about potential tariffs threatened by President Donald Trump on imports from Mexico and Canada. Farley stated that while a few weeks of tariffs would be “manageable,” prolonged tariffs would have a “huge impact” on the industry, potentially wiping out billions of dollars in profits and adversely affecting U.S. jobs and the entire value system in the automotive sector. He also warned of higher prices for consumers if the tariffs remain in place.

Compared to its rivals in the EV market, Ford appears to be lagging behind. While General Motors released several new electric models last year, including Chevy and Cadillac vehicles, Ford currently offers only three battery-electric vehicles for sale. Moreover, GM’s EV business is showing signs of profitability, while Ford’s continues to struggle.

To address these challenges, Ford plans to introduce a range of powertrains, including battery-electric, plug-in hybrid, and extended-range EVs that use small gas engines to recharge the battery, offering up to 700 miles of range. Farley mentioned that these new models will be built on flexible body-on-frame and unit-body platforms designed specifically for multi-energy powertrains.

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California’s Obsession with EVs Is Turning Neighborhoods Into Minefields

The fires that swept through the Los Angeles area pose a massive challenge for city officials and residents, not just from the sheer scale of the initial damage, but from the unique challenges presented by the cleanup.

Among the most difficult challenges will be handling the damaged lithium ion batteries found in electric vehicles left on properties during the evacuation.

EV Magazine noted that California leads the United States with respect to electric vehicle adoption, with just around 40% of electric cars in the country on its roads, especially because of green policies pushed by the state government.

According to one Wednesday report from KNBC-TV, the fires may have therefore created one of the largest cleanups of lithium ion batteries ever.

Steve Calanog, the incident commander for the Environmental Protection Agency handling the Palisades and Eaton fire cleanups, said in comments to KNBC-TV that the project will be “from our estimation, probably the largest lithium-ion battery pickup, cleanup, that’s ever happened in the history of the world.”

There were countless plug-in hybrid cars and electric vehicles in the area destroyed by the Pacific Palisades and Eaton fires.

The batteries can explode when they face damage or extreme heat.

Even worse, residual heat can cause an explosion days, weeks, or months after the initial disruption.

The cars may show no visible sign of damage, presenting danger to residents and contractors returning to destroyed properties to start the cleanups.

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Cherokee Nation receives $10.7M grant for electric vehicle charging ports

The Cherokee Nation is receiving a $10.7 million grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation to install 112 publicly accessible electric vehicle charging ports across 12 community locations. 

The project will place chargers in prominent destinations like parks and health centers. The initiative supports the Cherokee Nation’s clean energy goals and President Biden’s Justice 40 initiative, ensuring that nearly the entire reservation is within 25 miles of charging infrastructure.

“Our goal at the Cherokee Nation is to reduce our carbon footprint by 25 percent by 2027, and we continue to make these strides,” Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. said. “This latest federal grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation will help us continue to add even more electric vehicle charging stations across the Cherokee Nation Reservation as more consumers purchase electric vehicles and need places to charge.”

Proposed sites for EV Charging stations include properties owned by the Cherokee Nation in Ochelata, Jay, South Coffeyville, Nowata, Tahlequah, Stilwell, Grove, Salina, Vinita and Tulsa.

EV charging stations now exist throughout the tribe’s reservation including Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tulsa, Cherokee Casino Tahlequah, Ann Mitchell Cultural & Welcome Center in Vinita and Cherokee Nation’s W.W. Keeler Tribal Complex government office.

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Local Media Laments Lack of Free-To-Buyer Cars As EV Incentive Program Goes Bust

It’s not surprising — the climate cult has forced EV’s on the public so hard, with both carrots and sticks, and the incoming President campaigned on righting the electric ship and its mandates. 

Then there is the matter of charging stations, which the American people fully funded, albeit against their will, which were never fully realized under current leadership. 

But the real story here is the example CPR raises of a customer that feels “defeated” and “betrayed.”

The customer is Lisa Levad, a small business owner who figured out that she could get a used BMW EV for free by stacking rebates. She traded in her truck and chose a dealership that maxed out EV credits. She nearly got it done, too, except Xcel ran out of money before her rebate passed through, so she was left paying $2500 for a BMW electric vehicle. 

The CPR article paints her as a victim. She is apparently a victim because she failed to get a free car. 

Also, hilariously, she says the quiet part about EVs out loud: 

“While the car only offers 60 miles of range, she said it works for city driving and taking her granddaughter to school. ‘It is a very deluxe golf cart. I love it, though,’ Levad said.”

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Lithium Fields: Another Dark Side to the Electrical Vehicle Industry

Chile’s Atacama Desert is hailed as one of the Earth’s most extraordinary places. It’s the driest nonpolar desert on Earth, which stretches across around 600 miles (1,000 kilometers, or km) in a piece of land between the coastal Cordillera de la Costa Mountain range and the Andes Mountains.

The entire area is an oasis of geologic formations and has provided scientists with seemingly never-ending research opportunities.

As with so many areas in our wonderous planet, it also has a history of being raped for its minerals. Prior to the 1930s, it was for nitrate minerals that were used in fertilizers and explosives. But more recently other minerals such as lithium, copper and iodine are also being mined.

Unfortunately, lithium mining is hugely toxic and poses a significant danger to the environment, particularly in South America.

Despite the mining industry’s exploration of technological advancements aimed at reducing the industry’s ecological footprint, the question remains … Should we continue to rape the earth for lithium in the race to electrify?

Do electric vehicles (EVs) do more good than harm? Are the supply chains for the resources needed to electrify our world sufficiently transparent for us to evaluate them properly? Can we really call the move away from fossil fuels toward hyper-electrification another green revolution?

None of us are in a position to fully answer these questions as the data required are just not available. But what we do know suggests we should be concerned — very concerned.

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Reports of Electric Cars Exploding After Being Exposed to Saltwater from Hurricane Helene

Authorities in Florida have warned that electric cars flooded with salt water from Hurricane Helene have the potential to explode.

The warning comes as saltwater has flooded many streets in Florida after Hurricane Helene caused significant flooding throughout the state.

In a social media post, Pinellas County officials warned, “Electric Vehicles that have been flooded in saltwater can catch fire.”

The warning continued, “If you evacuated and left an electric vehicle or golf cart in your garage or under a building and you are not able to get to it or move it, we want you to let us know.”

The county then posted a video of an electric car that appeared to be impacted by saltwater catching fire in a garage.

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Carrots & Sticks: Colorado Expands Electric Vehicle Incentives

As electric vehicle demand plummets across the nation, Colorado officials are extending another carrot. From the Colorado Sun:

“Colorado is boosting its popular cash-for-clunkers EV buying support by nearly 60% with a $9 million fund for 2024-25, after retiring more old, dirtier cars than expected off the road during the first year. 

The state exhausted $5.7 million for the first year of the fund, which helps income-qualified buyers with an extra $6,000 rebate at the cash register if they turn in an older car when buying a new EV. Turning in an old car and buying a used EV can bring an exchange rebate of up to $4,000. 

Stacked with other federal, state and utility EV rebates, the extra state boost can cut the cost of some EVs by far more than half.”

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Electric Vehicles for the Impoverished

Dear Readers: everyday we are bombarded with stranger than fiction news regarding “green energy”, “global warming”, and EVs.

Sorting through all the absurdities takes time, so for your convenience, here I present a specially curated nugget.

In my ramblings and basura sorting, I recently identified an exotic niche EV curiosity: a Washington State program that promotes and subsidizes EVs for folks at or below poverty level, defined as a 4 person household that brings in less than $93,000/year, or per guidelines below:

The million dollar question: why does a person at the poverty level need an EV?
It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that these less than fortunate people don’t need or want an EV, but would instead better benefit from a reliable ICE car or hybrid that gets decent mileage, right?

Is the EVs for the Impoverished Program a ploy to get rid of EVs sitting moribund at dealerships with no takers?

Or perhaps the program is yet another example of white-guilt virtue signaling per this report: “Most US car owners would benefit from EV switch, but lowest-income Americans could be left behind: study”

Whatever the case, the hit to taxpayers is quite significant, as backed out of the data shown below.

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In Bid to Bribe Voters Biden Admin Gives $1.7B of Taxpayer Cash to EV Companies in Swing States

The Biden administration’s latest move in its ambitious climate agenda has raised eyebrows across the automotive industry and beyond.

In a sweeping announcement, the Department of Energy (DOE) revealed plans to inject nearly $1.7 billion of taxpayer money into transforming traditional auto manufacturing facilities into electric vehicle (EV) production hubs. This decision comes despite questionable consumer demand and infrastructure readiness for a widespread EV transition.

At the forefront of this initiative are General Motors (GM) and Stellantis, set to receive a whopping $1.1 billion in federal funding.

The DOE claims this investment will modernize 11 plants across eight states, potentially safeguarding 15,000 existing jobs and creating 3,000 new positions.

Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm framed the grants as a “hallmark of the Biden administration’s industrial strategy,” aimed at revitalizing historical auto manufacturing facilities.

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Former CIA operations officer warns: EVs and the climate agenda threaten NATIONAL SECURITY

According to a former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) operations officer, electric vehicles (EVs) and the climate agenda undermine America’s national security.

Bryan Dean Wright, the host of “The Wright Report” podcast and a former CIA operations officer, disclosed this to Fox News Digital. According to him, EVs pose environmental problems, national security issues and driver safety concerns. These setbacks, he continued, make EVs a less than desirable alternative to gas-powered cars they are ostensibly to replace.

Wright added that one of the most important things to consider when buying an EV is whether it is actually “green.” He believes that these supposedly “green” EVs are actually quite “dirty” – starting with their batteries.

The former CIA staffer explained that thousands of pounds of minerals – including cobalt, lithium and nickel – from all around the world have to first be extracted. Seventy percent of the world’s cobalt comes from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), and a third of that come from miners who are “mostly kids,” he said. (Related: America IGNORING human rights, child labor abuses in the DRC to secure supplies of METALS for EV batteries.)

“That is a horrific thing, imagining these child miners pulling this stuff out of the ground to make our green cars go – but that is true. Also, we know about the 19 cobalt mines in the [DRC]. Fifteen of them are controlled by the Chinese government or a Chinese entity.”

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