The mass adoption of electric vehicles is not going as smoothly as some legacy automakers had hoped it would.
Ford Motor Co. said it plans to slash production of its F-150 Lightning amid a slump in demand and weaker-than-expected EV growth, The Wall Street Journal reported. About 1,400 employees will be affected by the wind-down in production, with some workers being transferred back to the production of gas-powered vehicles.
Despite the Biden administration and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) pushing for the proliferation of EV sales in the United States, many believe mass adoption is still a long way off.
“There is no doubt EVs will play a significant role in diversifying America’s transportation systems. Yet we believe your plans will rush our transition to EVs before the infrastructure necessary to support it is in place,” wrote a group of 17 retired military officials in a letter to the White House and EPA regarding the national security implications of a hasty EV transition.
“This trajectory will only position the U.S. to become more reliant on China for critical minerals and manufacturing that are necessary for the rapid expansion of EV markets this administration envisions,” the group claimed.
Auto dealers are also pushing back against the rapid transition to EVs.
In a separate letter to the Biden administration, 3,800 U.S. car dealers urged the White House to revise its goal of having 50% of all new vehicle sales be electric by 2030. The auto dealers argued that the transition timeline is “unrealistic and untenable.”
“Your Administration has proposed regulations that would essentially mandate a dramatic shift to battery-electric vehicles … increasing year after year until 2032, when two out of every three vehicles sold in America would have to be battery-electric,” reads the letter.
The auto dealers said that while there are many high-quality EVs for sale and that they believe “their appeal will grow over time,” current demand is not keeping pace with the number of EVs being delivered to dealerships due to regulators pushing their expansion.
“While the goals of the regulations are admirable, they require consumer acceptance to become a reality. With each passing day, it becomes more apparent that this attempted electric vehicle mandate is unrealistic based on current and forecasted customer demand,” the letter reads. “Already, electric vehicles are stacking up on our lots, which is our best indicator of customer demand in the marketplace.”
Despite automakers initially having big hopes for EVs, the American public has seemingly not expressed the same enthusiasm for the technology.
“The curve isn’t accelerating as quickly as I think a lot of people expected,” said Ford CFO John Lawler during a conference in September, per WSJ. “We’re seeing it flatten a bit.”
Whether or not it is the high sticker price of EVs or some other factor, the uncertainty surrounding the vehicles in the long term could prove problematic for the Biden administration since so many consumers remain reluctant to make the switch.
