https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c8ex2l58en4o
“You could be forgiven for thinking that electric cars might finally be gaining
momentum in the US.
After all, sales of battery cars topped 1.2 million last year, more than five
times the number just four years earlier. Hybrid sales have jumped by a factor
of three.
Battery-powered cars accounted for 10% of overall sales in August - a new high,
according to S&P Global Mobility.
And in updates to investors this week, General Motors, Ford, Tesla and other
companies all reported record electric sales over the past three months.
This marked a bright spot in an industry wrestling with the fallout from still
high interest rates and buyers on edge over inflation, tariffs and the wider
economy.
But analysts say the boom was caused by a dash to buy before the end of a
government subsidy that helped knock as much as $7,500 (£5,588) off the price
of certain battery electric, plug-in hybrid or fuel cell vehicles.
With that tax credit gone as of the end of September, carmakers are expecting
momentum to shift into reverse.
"It's going to be a vibrant industry, but it's going to be smaller, way smaller
than we thought," Ford chief executive Jim Farley said at an event on Tuesday.
"I expect that EV demand is going to drop off pretty precipitously," the chief
financial officer of General Motors, Paul Jacobson, said at a conference last
month, adding it would take time to see how quickly buyers would come back.
Even with the recent gains, the US, the world's second biggest car market,
stood out as a laggard in electric car sales compared to much of the rest of
the world.”
Via Kenny Chaffin.
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
