HEADLINE: “The Wheels Continue to Turn on the Poorly Conceived, Ham-Handed, Stuck "Energy Transition" That Isn't Moving”, By DOUG SHERIDAN
THOMAS J. SHEPSTONE
Forwarded this email? Subscribe here for more
The Wheels Continue to Turn on the Poorly Conceived, Ham-Handed, Stuck "Energy Transition" That Isn't Moving
AUG 16
Doug Sheridan speaks boldly and with common sense in a LinkedInpost, about the EV truck boondoggle and what it tells us about the “energy transition” in general:
Bloomberg writes, automakers collectively sold about 35,000 electric pickups to US drivers in the first half of 2025, down 4% from the year before. Meanwhile, 1.6 million gasoline-powered full-size pickups flew off lots during the period. Now automakers who rushed to invest billions of dollars to build plug-in pickups can't help but wonder how they overestimated interest from their most loyal customers so badly.
They're not giving up entirely just yet. Ford Motor Companyannounced plans to build a midsize electric pickup priced around $30,000 starting in 2027 in Kentucky. The company's hope is that the relatively lower price point will help revive lagging plug-in truck sales. But many drivers say there are other drawbacks besides price.
Jim Weber, whose Columbus, Ohio-based mulch company relies on a fleet of about 100 pickups, mostly Fords, to get the job done, says he tried a demo of a Ford F-150 Lightning EV pickup six months ago to see if it could handle like a work truck. Loaded up for a long day, the plug-in got far less than its rated 320 miles on a charge, he says.
"During peak season we're running 8 AM to 8 PM" the Ohio Mulch Co. owner says. "Then you go through hills in Kentucky and Cincinnati. There's just no way electric trucks have the capacity."
EV trucks, while sporting lower emissions, are generally costlier than gasoline-fueled options. GM's base model electric Chevy Silverado work truck starts at $55,000 and is rated at 286 miles of driving on a charge. The more expensive EVs can go farther. The cheapest gasoline version starts around $37,000 and can drive about 450 miles on a tank.
“There's a level of anxiety here, because we've been down for two and a half years," says David Michaels, chairman of the General Motors unit of United Auto Workers Local 5960 in Orion. We believe in the EV, but we want to be versatile. A lot of our members transferred to Factory Zero, and they want to come home."
Our Take 1: This is just one more example of how the wheels continue to come off what has been a poorly conceived and ham-handedly executed energy transition. It's been a galloping misallocation of capital... and a massive waste of time, money and resources.
Our Take 2: Maybe the next time around—rather than allowing climate scientists, environmental activists, and know-nothing politicians to redesign our transportation and energy systems, a few more critical thinkers will be invited to weigh in. One can at least hope, right?
Our Take 3: To the extent that China now dominates the global auto market—as is increasingly being suggested—no one has had a bigger hand in it than Western auto companies themselves. They, of all parties, understood that the Chinese held all the cards for the production of EV batteries, yet they blithely went along. It's one of the great strategic gaffes ever. One for the ages, really.
#DougSheridan #EVs #ElectricTrucks #China #Ford #Mobility #EnergyTransition #Climate
BOTTOMLINE: “To the extent that China now dominates the global auto market—as is increasingly being suggested—no one has had a bigger hand in it than Western auto companies themselves. They, of all parties, understood that the Chinese held all the cards for the production of EV batteries, yet they blithely went along. It's one of the great strategic gaffes ever. One for the ages, really.”