Ford Delays Production Of New Electric Vehicles By Years As Consumers Sour On EVs

 Ford Motor Co. announced on Thursday that it is delaying the production of two new electric vehicles and that it will instead focus on making more hybrid vehicles as consumer demand for electric vehicles continues to plummet.

The launch of at least two new three-row electric vehicles will be delayed from 2025 to 2027, the company said in a statement.

“The additional time will allow for the consumer market for three-row EVs to further develop and enable Ford to take advantage of emerging battery technology,” the company claimed.

“In parallel, Ford is expanding its hybrid electric vehicle offerings,” the company said. “By the end of the decade, the company expects to offer hybrid powertrains across its entire Ford Blue lineup in North America.”

The New York Times reported:

Ford’s electric vehicle business lost $4.7 billion before interest and taxes in 2023. By contrast, the division that makes gasoline and hybrid vehicles for consumers made a $7.5 billion profit.

“Many companies rushed in too fast with E.V.s that were too expensive and there was not as much of a market for them as they thought,” Sam Abuelsamid, principal analyst for transportation and mobility at the research firm Guidehouse Insights, told the Times. “That’s made it a lot tougher to sell those vehicles.”

Numerous companies have been forced to scrap their plans to build electric cars, cancel their plans to go all electric, or in some cases are struggling just to stay in business.

Consumers regularly have complained about the high prices of electric vehicles, their quality and reliability, the lack of charging stations, the time it takes to charge them, how inconvenient they can be, and their significantly decreased performance during cold weather conditions.

 

Former President Donald Trump has vowed to undo President Joe Biden’s electric vehicle mandate if he is re-elected this fall.

“Joe Biden’s extreme electric vehicle mandate will force Americans to buy ultra-expensive cars they do not want and cannot afford while destroying the U.S. auto industry in the process,” a Trump campaign spokesperson said in a statement. “This radical policy is anti-jobs, anti-consumer, and anti-American. It will destroy the livelihoods of countless U.S. autoworkers while sending the U.S. auto industry to China.”

“President Trump will reverse Joe Biden’s extreme electric vehicle mandate on Day One,” the statement continued. “He will protect the freedom of Americans to drive whichever vehicle they choose, enhance President Trump’s tough tariffs on Chinese-imported cars, and save the U.S. auto industry for generations to come.”