Electric Blues

During a visit to Ford yesterday, President Trump responded to an employee who heckled him about the Epstein files by flipping the bird and mouthing the words, “F-ck you.” The sentiment from American car manufacturers—not to mention Mother Nature—is likely mutual. After all, Trump has helped to throw the US electric vehicle industry into reverse, and that move has left a trail of red ink in its wake. From Bill Saporito in the NYT (Gift Article): $25 Billion. That’s What Trump Cost Detroit. “It is a critical part of every chief executive’s job to anticipate the future. Failing to recognize and adapt to change can be the difference between thriving or disappearing. That’s why corporate leaders are continually bracing their companies against a host of possibilities: another pandemic, global conflict, rising interest rates, climate change and competitors that arise from nowhere. But it is pretty difficult to futureproof your company against stupid. This is exactly what the American automobile industry is facing as a result of Donald Trump’s gratuitous war against electric vehicles.” (Rage anxiety is the new range anxiety.) Environmental matters aside, this reversal of policy, and fortune, is worth a few expletives because it puts America behind in a key growth market that’s thriving abroad and further delays the buildout of the infrastructure required to put an end to the perennial question, “Where do I plug this thing in?”

+ Industry matters aside, I’ve found EVs to be more convenient, faster, quieter, and generally better to drive. I wonder if anyone has an extension cord long enough to reach Europe or China. North America was the only market where EV sales were down last year. Even in the US, the current slowdown could be a temporary speedbump. GM CEO Mary Barra: “Once someone buys an EV, they’re 80% more likely to buy another EV … Our destination is to get to the all-EV future we’ve been talking about.” In the meantime, that future is being turned into a demolition derby.