Re:Toyota CEO Says “Silent Majority” of Auto Industry Is Dou...
by dangus on Wednesday December 28, 2022 @11:46AM
(#34162812)
This really goes back to my other points I've made on this thread: if we focus on the economics, if everything you're saying is 100% is true, why are multiple major automotive companies spending so much money investing in EVs and visibly disinvesting from ICE vehicle development? If this knowledge is so available and the conclusion is so inevitable, why are multiple automotive companies abandoning ICE investment so completely?
These automotive companies lobby endlessly to sway various regulations in their favor, but they've seemingly rolled over and given up on the issue of EVs. They don't protest at California or Europe planning to ban ICE vehicle sales, and yet they have no difficulty discouraging the government from pursuing public transit and passenger rail investments. Why is that?
Why is Amazon building a custom EV delivery van with Rivian and outfitting their warehouses with expensive space-eating charging stations if the economics don't work and they expect battery materials to dry up? Are you accusing Amazon of acting against shareholder interests? Do you know of any public companies making investments of that scale without doing basic research? [2]
I'll tell you why it's happening: economically, EVs are less complicated to manufacture, more profitable, less expensive to fuel, and more desirable to consumers. I think that if we read between the lines, automakers aren't worried about securing enough batteries and finding enough materials. They're probably more worried about the way gasoline prices can fluctuate suddenly like in 2021, and how that fluctuation discourages sales of the most profitable types of vehicles (SUVs and trucks).
Economically, the US government knows that high gas prices alone can act as a trigger for recessions, and they most certainly have the data to know whether BEVs are a viable solution. 38% of Republican Senators voted for the infrastructure bill that introduces subsidies for electric vehicles. [1]
We can cynically look at that legislative action as a handout to corporations, but I see it as an admission that the world will change to BEVs whether any outside action takes place or not, purely due to the economics of the situation, and that incentivizing a domestic supply chain is necessary for economic stability and possibly even national security (i.e., shoring up energy independence: congress doesn't want the country's transportation infrastructure to be handcuffed to a new OPEC in the form of foreign battery suppliers).
These automotive companies lobby endlessly to sway various regulations in their favor, but they've seemingly rolled over and given up on the issue of EVs. They don't protest at California or Europe planning to ban ICE vehicle sales, and yet they have no difficulty discouraging the government from pursuing public transit and passenger rail investments. Why is that?
Why is Amazon building a custom EV delivery van with Rivian and outfitting their warehouses with expensive space-eating charging stations if the economics don't work and they expect battery materials to dry up? Are you accusing Amazon of acting against shareholder interests? Do you know of any public companies making investments of that scale without doing basic research? [2]
I'll tell you why it's happening: economically, EVs are less complicated to manufacture, more profitable, less expensive to fuel, and more desirable to consumers. I think that if we read between the lines, automakers aren't worried about securing enough batteries and finding enough materials. They're probably more worried about the way gasoline prices can fluctuate suddenly like in 2021, and how that fluctuation discourages sales of the most profitable types of vehicles (SUVs and trucks).
Economically, the US government knows that high gas prices alone can act as a trigger for recessions, and they most certainly have the data to know whether BEVs are a viable solution. 38% of Republican Senators voted for the infrastructure bill that introduces subsidies for electric vehicles. [1]
We can cynically look at that legislative action as a handout to corporations, but I see it as an admission that the world will change to BEVs whether any outside action takes place or not, purely due to the economics of the situation, and that incentivizing a domestic supply chain is necessary for economic stability and possibly even national security (i.e., shoring up energy independence: congress doesn't want the country's transportation infrastructure to be handcuffed to a new OPEC in the form of foreign battery suppliers).
I'm just following the money here.
[1] https://www.npr.org/2021/08/10/1026486578/senate-republican-...
[2] https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/transportation/rivian-amazo...