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Are we too optimistic about EVs?

New Questions about Electric Vehicles

The big news of the week was Apple’s decision to cease development of its electric vehicle after ten years, and one assumes, many billions of dollars. I thought an Apple car might be amazing, so I was pretty disappointed, but I admire the ability to ignore sunk costs when necessary and reallocate resources, in this case to AI.

Perhaps instead of trying to build a car from the ground up, Apple will buy a car company like Magna as recently suggested by energy expert Mark P Mills. Whatever their plans are, I began to wonder if Tim Cook knows something we don’t. Is the market for BEV’s (Battery Electric Vehicles) less promising than we think?

Linear growth is never inevitable. In fact we could be on the cusp of a slowdown in the EV sector. The smart money is exiting as state-sanctioned hyper competition from China and weakening demand threaten to erode profits. Was the road to electrification overhyped—did we take the EV exit too soon? For now, it looks as if we will be living in a world of mostly gasoline-powered vehicles for some time, as oil prices have remained steady in spite of geopolitical risks.

Apple is far from alone in its cautious approach. Automotive giant Toyota has also been careful about piling into EV’s and is hedging its bets with hybrids. Kay Smythe of the Daily Caller gives this frank assessment:

The Japanese car giant suggested that its decision to avoid going fully electric within its fleet of vehicles, and instead emphasize hybrid machines, is likely why it’ll end the fiscal year on such a high, according to Axios. Shares in Toyota rose nearly 50% in the last 12 months, while electric vehicle manufacturers struggle to deal with the fact that no one wants their stupid cars.

And one more blow. Aston Martin announced that it too would delay the launch of its new EV, explaining that high performance customers love the smell of petrol in the morning. Instead, they will also focus on a hybrid model.

The luxury marque’s chairman admitted that drivers still want “the sports car smell, feel and noise” of a petrol engine...

Aston Martin's plug-in hybrid Valhalla car will bridge the gap between petrol and electric fuel types

When Will EV’s Dominate the Auto Market?