The Patriot Post® · Ford EVs Found on Road Dead

During Joe Biden’s presidency, electric vehicles seemed all the rage. Back in 2021, he rode around the South Lawn of the White House and later jumped aboard a Ford F-150 for a photo-op, excited over the smooth ride and quick acceleration. They also said it was good for the environment, quietly forgetting that part about relying on other countries to dig up the earth for rare minerals we don’t have, the energy it takes to make a battery, and the toxic chemicals that leak after disposal.

In reality, though, Americans weren’t clamoring for more EVs. But the green energy socialists in the Biden administration had a dream of breaking our dependency on fossil fuels. It was for our own good, they told us, despite the exorbitant costs of buying a new EV. However, gas prices were topping $5 per gallon in the Biden years, so it’s not surprising that more people were ditching their gas-guzzlers. Taking advantage of the situation, Biden and the Democrats decided to go one step further by forcing Americans to buy EVs and car manufacturers to make them.

Biden’s Environmental Protection Agency implemented new rules in 2024 that “set targets for the number of electric models produced in the United States as a percentage of all light-duty vehicles created each year,” reports National Review. “For instance, in 2030, hitting the EPA’s new targets would require somewhere between 31 percent and 44 percent of new cars, SUVs, and pickup trucks to be fully electric, with the exact percentage depending on the amount of emissions from other vehicles.”

In other words, you were getting an EV whether you liked it or not. And so were car manufacturers. They knew getting into the EV business was a losing venture from the start, but like consumers, they were pressured into making them anyway.

The Wall Street Journal editorial board writes, “The Biden Administration sought to force-feed the EV transition with ramped-up fuel-economy and greenhouse-gas emissions rules. Car makers were required to produce increasing numbers of EVs, which they had to sell at a loss because consumer demand was weak. The Inflation Reduction Act’s $7,500 EV tax credit boosted demand, but not enough to make the cars profitable.”

It was a plan doomed to fail from the beginning.

One reason is that Americans lost interest in electric vehicles. Now that gas prices have been coming back down, it’s much cheaper to fill up the tank. Another reason is that companies simply weren’t making enough money. Propped up by government subsidies and forced to make changes mandated by federal agencies, companies like Ford tried to make it work, but in the end, they couldn’t turn a profit.

According to CNBC, “South Korea’s LG Energy Solution said on Wednesday that Ford Motor has terminated an electric vehicle (EV) battery-supply deal worth about $6.50 billion. The South Korean battery maker said in a regulatory filing that the termination followed a notice from Ford after the automaker decided to halt production of some EV models due to policy changes and shifts in outlook for EV demand.”

And now Ford is willing to take a $20 billion hit rather than keep making EVs. “Ford said on Monday it will take a $19.5 billion writedown and is killing several electric-vehicle models in the most dramatic example yet of the auto industry’s retreat from battery-powered models in response to the Trump administration’s policies and weakening EV demand.”

While it’s true that sales of EVs soared in 2025, that was mainly due to the anticipated $7,500 EV tax credit being eliminated by the Trump administration in September. But even with the increase in sales, companies were still losing money. “Buyers flocked to dealerships to purchase EVs before the tax credit expired on September 30, leading to a record market share of 10.5%,” reveals The Street. “Despite the good times, Ford lost another $1.4 billion on its Model e EV division in the third quarter. It lost $5.1 billion in 2024 after losing $4.7 billion the year prior. Ford expects Model e losses to increase to $5.5 billion in 2025. GM and Stellantis are also losing significant money on their EV divisions. Each of the Big 3 has scaled back production this year, despite the record-setting sales pace.”

With low gas prices, no tax incentives, and manufacturers backing out of the EV game, it’s no wonder Americans are shying away from purchasing electric vehicles. A recent survey by the American Automobile Association (AAA) found, “Only 16% of U.S. adults report being ‘very likely’ or ‘likely’ to purchase a fully electric vehicle (EV) as their next car, the lowest percentage recorded of EV interest since 2019. The percentage of consumers indicating they would be ‘unlikely’ or ‘very unlikely’ to purchase an EV rose from 51% to 63%, the highest since 2022.”

Consumers should have access to a wide range of options in the auto market, including EVs that feature innovative technologies worth developing and refining. For now, though, they’re just too expensive to make, and it’s good news that the government is no longer forcing Americans into buying something they never wanted in the first place.