Since Joe Biden took office, the left has sought to limit usage of fossil fuels in favor of renewable energy. The problem with that plan was obvious: the United States doesn’t have the renewable or electric infrastructure to power the energy grid. Windmills and solar panels may be a fine backup someday, but in the three years since Biden took office, the only thing that has happened is higher energy costs and hollow talk of a green, renewable future.
Perhaps the biggest piece of the climate-saving puzzle has been electric vehicles. Countries worldwide have vowed to phase out or make sales of gasoline-powered cars illegal in favor of high-tech, expensive EVs. Naturally, in America, the Biden Administration has pushed aggressively toward EVs; however, no charging infrastructure has been built in the last three years by Biden.
The obstacles to electric vehicles are obvious. They are expensive, inconvenient to charge, don’t deliver the promised range, and are very expensive to service and repair. Subsequently, manufacturers have found parts difficult to find, and dealers have found unsold EVs piling up on their lots leading some to pull back on their inventory.
Unfortunately, when production is cut because people aren’t buying EVs, oftentimes, jobs are lost as well. This is exactly what is happening at the Ford Motor Company Rouge Electric Vehicle Center. The plant is cutting almost 1400 employees from its F-150 Lightning line as they are going to a single shift in the facility.
Demand for the pricey truck has cratered with concerns about cost, performance, and reliability, undermining consumer confidence in the trucks. Ford has cut nearly $12 billion in EV investments as buyers simply don’t trust the technology.
Horror stories about performance, lack of charging, and the price tag have taken their toll on sales, particularly given the challenging and frightening economic environment as inflation once again rears its ugly head and layoffs take their toll. The Ford Lightning, the EV truck that will see its production be cut, is the one Biden tested in 2021.
Watch Biden give the Ford Lightning a test drive here:
While it is unfortunate that employees are getting cut, since sales of gasoline-powered vehicles remain strong, the company is adding 900 new employees and transferring 700 from the failing EV plant to its Michigan facility to add a third shift for gas-powered production. The announcements come on the heels of another major player in the industry taking an about-face on electric.
Rental giant Hertz announced recently that after aggressively pushing EVs to customers and committing to adding more electric in the future, they were selling off their electric fleet, citing high costs for repairs and maintenance. It is a stunning reversal of course, and perhaps even an admission of failure from Hertz. Bloomberg reported: “The dramatic about-face, after Hertz announced plans in 2021 to buy 100,000 Tesla Inc. vehicles, underscores the waning demand for all-electric cars in the US. EV sales growth slowed sharply over the course of 2023, rising just 1.3% in the final quarter as consumers were put off by high costs and interest rates.”
The aggressive push by the left to end the fossil fuel industry and force Americans into renewables has so far turned out to be disastrous. Consumers don’t want EVs, dealers can’t sell them, and repair shops are getting rich, keeping the cars on the road. When you factor in the charging infrastructure issue, it’s no wonder Americans are giving electric vehicles the cold shoulder.
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video
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