“EV’s – Electric Vehicles”

GM supplier Magna is stuck with a plant built to churn out parts for battery-powered pickups; ‘the magnitude of uncertainty is unparalleled’

ST. CLAIR, Mich.—At first, North America’s biggest auto-parts supplier was thrilled to snag the job of making enclosures for the batteries in General Motors’ new electric pickup. The contract was so big—and promised to be for years to come—that Magna International built a new factory in a Michigan cornfield.

Five years later, that million-square-foot plant is mostly empty and losing money, a casualty of America’s messy breakup with electric vehicles. It is one of dozens of now desolate or sparsely used EV parts plants across the country.

Now the war in Iran has driven gas prices up so sharply that EV enthusiasts are daring to wonder whether U.S. car buyers are willing to give the vehicles another look. But Magna and its big Detroit customers are forging ahead with plans to roll back EV investments.

I remember how excited the media and customers were when the ugliest truck that ever existed came out, the Tesla Cybertruck. It came out in 2023.

Musk predicted they would sell 250,000 to 500,000 Cybertrucks. In 2024, Tesla sold around 40,000; in 2025, around 20,000. I wonder why vehicles that are expensive, won’t go very far on a charge, are ugly, and take much longer to charge, would have trouble selling.

Ford and others are converting battery factories to produce industrial and utility-scale energy storage

Makers of electric-vehicle batteries are pivoting to make energy storage for data centers and utilities, including the likes of Ford Motor

Battery manufacturers made significant investments in the U.S. in recent years, buoyed by policy support for EVs. That changed when President Trump’s administration took away carrots incentivizing EV buyers and did away with sticks that punished automakers for making gas-guzzlers. Benchmark Mineral Intelligence expects energy storage to make up 41% of total U.S. battery demand this year, up from 26% two years ago.

Japanese automaker Honda just cancelled the production of three planned made-in-the-U.S.A. electric cars, including the 0-Series SUV, the 0-Series Saloon, and the Acura RSX — and the company says it will write off massive losses as a result.

More … Honda Motor Expects Up to $15.7 Billion Hit From EV Strategy Reassessment

h/t Mauser

“I think the customer has spoken. That’s the punchline,” said Jim Farley, the chief executive of Ford.

The American boss was speaking last week as his company unveiled a $5bn (£3.7bn) annual loss, barely two months after it had booked a shock $19.5bn write-down.

The cause? An aggressive bet on electric vehicles (EVs) that backfired spectacularly.

In 2025, sales of the Mustang Mach-E crossover and the F-150 Lightning pickup truck – once hailed by Farley as the “truck of the future” – went into reverse.