Carmakers tap brakes on EVs

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Economic concerns and high costs are pushing some automakers to take their feet off the pedal when it comes to electric vehicles.

Two domestic OEs — Ford and General Motors — along with Tesla are slowing down their electric ambitions. With interest rates high, pushing already expensive vehicles to a higher price range when tied to financing, and consumers worried about the economy as inflation sits higher than they’d like and everything in general costing more, tens of billions of dollars of stated investment appears as though it’ll be held back.

The news comes as Canada saw its highest battery electric vehicle registration stats ever. S&P Global Mobility reported that one-in-10 new vehicle registrations in the third quarter were BEV. Zero-emission vehicles (BEVs and plug-in hybrids) accounted for 13 per cent altogether.

Still, GM has ditched its goal of building 400,000 EVs by next summer. It’s also delaying the release of some new models.

Ford is pushing back its plan to spend $12 billion on EV factories. They reported that customers are showing reluctance to pay extra for such vehicles.

Tesla slashed prices this year and still saw sales fall. Now the company may delay building a $1 billion plant in Mexico.

That said, automakers said they’re still committed to electrification. But with so many competitors — from legacy OEs to new ones — competition has forced prices to stay relatively low. Profits are not there yet for many companies and demand isn’t enough to offset low margins.