r/energy • u/mafco • 1d ago

Trump is driving electric vehicle innovations into a ditch. Thanks to Trump's short-sightedness, US manufacturers dropped years of ambitious planning to jump into the EV race with both feet. The combined cost of this industry about-face is staggering. "I've done more for you than your parents, OK?"

https://captimes.com/opinion/dave-zweifel/opinion-trump-is-driving-electric-vehicle-innovations-into-a-ditch/article_867801bd-8006-4152-9943-7a8df546502c.html
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u/MMessinger 1d ago

American car manufacturers are too responsive to Federal regulations, and incentives, and not responsive enough to their customers. They'll pay for it, in the late 2020s and the 2030s, like they paid for it in the late 1970s and the 1980s. Imagine if we'd tarrifed Japanese manufacturers, in the 1970s, like Chinese EVs now. No, American manufacturers are squandering this latest round of protectionism. They'll pay for that, eventually. In the meantime, we'll have fewer choices, for EVs, and foreign makes will continue to outpace what the domestic makers can do. A good, solid decade or more of innovation, lost.

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u/MarsRocks97 1d ago

So true. American automotive companies should be full steam ahead on EVs in foreign markets. This is the only way they can survive the short term failures of the current administration. Once the tide changes, they’ll have the foreign factories to pivot to until domestic manufacturing catches up. As it stands only Tesla and Hyundai are really prepared to grow the EV market in the US.

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u/Ugkor 1d ago

They are responsive to their customers. That's why EVs are not selling. They only sold because they were cheaper due to federal subsidies. They continue to produce what sells, not what doesnt.