Continuing EV Bloodbath Leaves Harris With A Lot To Answer For

From the Daily Caller News Foundation

Once the ongoing effort by the legacy media to reinvent presumptive Democratic nominee Kamala Harris as a dynamic leader and competent campaigner passes, we will presumably enter the part of the presidential race in which we actually examine her real record on the key issues.

When — or if — that time ever arrives, the vice president will have a lot to explain where energy policy is concerned.

Last week I provided a high-level overview of some of the radical policies Harris has supported over her time in office in California and Washington, D.C. Today, I will address Harris’s advocacy for electric vehicles and buses, and the expanding bloodbath it has helped to create.

Let’s begin with a speech Harris delivered in Brandywine, Maryland on December 13, 2021. There, Harris spoke to an audience including Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, assorted Maryland officeholders, and workers at the Brandywine Highway Maintenance Facility. As part of her remarks, the vice president delivered a ringing endorsement of electric vehicles and her administration’s plans to try to subsidize them into automotive market dominance.

“The pollution from vehicles powered by fossil fuels has long harmed the health of communities around our country,” Harris said. “But there is a solution to this problem, and it is parked right behind me … electric cars, trucks, and buses — they don’t produce tailpipe emissions that irritate the nose and eyes, that decrease lung function, that increase susceptibility to respiratory illness.”

Harris added: “That means manufacturing millions of electric cars, trucks, and buses right here in our country. That means outfitting thousands of EV — electric vehicle — repair garages, just like this one. And it means installing a national network of EV chargers.”

That speech took place after congress had enacted the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act containing more than $200 billion in clean energy subsidies. Congress passed the Orwellian-named Inflation Reduction Act and its $369 billion in similar subsidies eight months later.

How has all that worked out for America three years down the road? As I pointed out a few weeks ago, every pure play EV maker in the U.S. is now either in bankruptcy or teetering on the brink. Ford reported last week that its EV division, Ford Model e, lost about $50,000 per unit sold during the second quarter, and that was the best quarterly result the company has reported in over a year. Even Tesla has started the year with a pair of disappointing quarterly results amid rapidly slowing consumer demand for electric vehicles.

The Biden-Harris dreams of subsidizing a national fleet of high-speed EV chargers into existence has also come up a crapper. The Washington Post and others reported in April that Granholm’s Energy Department has invested a whopping $7.5 billion to install 5,000 such charging stations around the country but had only managed to activate 7 to that point.

Harris also endorsed a $5 billion EPA-managed program included in the Infrastructure law to fund the adoption of battery electric buses for targeted school systems around the country. Thus far, EPA has released two tranches of federal grants totaling $1.9 billion, but to disappointing results. Of the 389 school districts targeted by the grants, just 23 have reported successful acquisition of a total of 60 buses that have been placed into service. But another 50 of those districts have since withdrawn from consideration by the program.

“EPA anticipates that transitioning to new technology school buses will take time, which is why the project period is two years with an option to extend where needed and justified,” said EPA spokeswoman Shayla Powell.

Oh.

IRA subsidies for EV city buses have created perhaps the worst set of boondoggles of all. The electric buses are so costly, require such high maintenance and have such limited charging ranges that even extremely liberal cities like Austin, Texas and Jackson, Wyoming have quit trying to change over their fleets. The 2023 bankruptcy of heavily subsidized Proterra, the biggest EV bus maker, hasn’t helped.

It is hard to identify any aspect of the Biden-Harris suite of EV-related policies that can honestly be called a success. As her party’s apparent nominee, Harris will have much to answer for — that is, if the media ever gets around to asking the relevant questions.

David Blackmon is an energy writer and consultant based in Texas. He spent 40 years in the oil and gas business, where he specialized in public policy and communications.

Related Topics:#DailyCaller #DavidBlackmon ElectricVehiclesKamalaHarris EVBloodbathKamalaHarris KamalaHarrisEnergyPolicy

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Published on April 25, 2025

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From Energy Now

Electric vehicle prices fell 7.8 per cent in the last quarter of 2024 year-over-year, according to the AutoTader price index

Fewer Canadians are considering buying an electric vehicle, marking the third year in a row interest has dropped despite lower EV prices, a survey from AutoTrader shows.

Forty-two per cent of survey respondents say they’re considering an EV as their next vehicle, down from 46 per cent last year. In 2022, 68 per cent said they would consider buying an EV.

Meanwhile, 29 per cent of respondents say they would exclusively consider buying an EV — a significant drop from 40 per cent last year.

The report, which surveyed 1,801 people on the AutoTrader website, shows drivers are concerned about reduced government incentives, a lack of infrastructure and long-term costs despite falling prices.

Electric vehicle prices fell 7.8 per cent in the last quarter of 2024 year-over-year, according to the AutoTader price index.

The survey, conducted between Feb. 13 and March 12, shows 68 per cent of non-EV owners say government incentives could influence their decision, while a little over half say incentives increase their confidence in buying an EV.

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Hyundai moves SUV production to U.S.

Published on April 25, 2025

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MxM News

Quick Hit:

Hyundai is responding swiftly to 47th President Donald Trump’s newly implemented auto tariffs by shifting key vehicle production from Mexico to the U.S. The automaker, heavily reliant on the American market, has formed a specialized task force and committed billions to American manufacturing, highlighting how Trump’s America First economic policies are already impacting global business decisions.

Key Details:

Hyundai has created a tariffs task force and is relocating Tucson SUV production from Mexico to Alabama.
Despite a 25% tariff on car imports that began April 3, Hyundai reported a 2% gain in Q1 operating profit and maintained earnings guidance.
Hyundai and Kia derive one-third of their global sales from the U.S., where two-thirds of their vehicles are imported.

Diving Deeper:

In a direct response to President Trump’s decisive new tariffs on imported automobiles, Hyundai announced Thursday it has mobilized a specialized task force to mitigate the financial impact of the new trade policy and confirmed production shifts of one of its top-selling models to the United States. The move underscores the gravity of the new 25% import tax and the economic leverage wielded by a White House that is now unambiguously prioritizing American industry.

Starting with its popular Tucson SUV, Hyundai is transitioning some manufacturing from Mexico to its Alabama facility. Additional consideration is being given to relocating production away from Seoul for other U.S.-bound vehicles, signaling that the company is bracing for the long-term implications of Trump’s tariffs.

This move comes as the 25% import tax on vehicles went into effect April 3, with a matching tariff on auto parts scheduled to hit May 3. Hyundai, which generates a full third of its global revenue from American consumers, knows it can’t afford to delay action. Notably, U.S. retail sales for Hyundai jumped 11% last quarter, as car buyers rushed to purchase vehicles before prices inevitably climb due to the tariff.

Despite the trade policy, Hyundai reported a 2% uptick in first-quarter operating profit and reaffirmed its earnings projections, indicating confidence in its ability to adapt. Yet the company isn’t taking chances. Ahead of the tariffs, Hyundai stockpiled over three months of inventory in U.S. markets, hoping to blunt the initial shock of the increased import costs.

In a significant show of good faith and commitment to U.S. manufacturing, Hyundai last month pledged a massive $21 billion investment into its new Georgia plant. That announcement was made during a visit to the White House, just days before President Trump unveiled the auto tariff policy — a strategic alignment with a pro-growth, pro-America agenda.

Still, the challenges are substantial. The global auto industry depends on complex, multi-country supply chains, and analysts warn that tariffs will force production costs higher. Hyundai is holding the line on pricing for now, promising to keep current model prices stable through June 2. After that, however, price adjustments are on the table, potentially passing the burden to consumers.

South Korea, which remains one of the largest exporters of automobiles to the U.S., is not standing idle. A South Korean delegation is scheduled to meet with U.S. trade officials in Washington Thursday, marking the start of negotiations that could redefine the two nations’ trade dynamics.

President Trump’s actions represent a sharp pivot from the era of global corporatism that defined trade under the Obama-Biden administration. Hyundai’s swift response proves that when the U.S. government puts its market power to work, foreign companies will move mountains — or at least entire assembly lines — to stay in the game.