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Ford writes off $20 billion EV venture. Vin-Fast, with $65 billion of investor money, fails completely.

Photo Above - the quaint Merry Oaks Baptist Church is being blamed for the failure of a $65 billion EV company. But the facts are more complicated, as usual. And taxpayers may have saved a bundle . . .

Ford’s value (market cap) was $54 Billion yesterday. Today it wrote off $20B on its failed EV ventures. Does that mean Ford’s actual market value is now $34 billion, and their stock should also fall 40% - from $13 to $8? I'm not holding my breath, although I do have a longstanding alert at Merrill if Ford returns to it's 52 week low ($8.12, in April).

Evidently Ford is killing off more than one EV. But the model dominating the headlines is the electrified F150 Lightnin' pickup. Turns out there’s NOT actually unlimited demand for battery trucks costing nearly $100,000. Who would have predicted THAT?

“Trump’s policies” gets the blame from Democrats for Ford's decision. But that’s BS. You can’t call an EV car or truck successful if people only buy it with a $7,500 bribe. Only 6,000 Lightnings were sold since the start of the year. Consumer demand was going to be unlimited, right? Owners would be desperate for bragging rights at the Home Depot parking lot on Saturday mornings.

Ford is also halting construction on its Kentucky Battery Plant (thank you again, taxpayer subsidies) as part of the write-off. Evidently those batteries are not only too expensive for vehicles, there’s no also demand for them as home “power wall” systems to store solar energy for use after sundown.

The culprit here is EV technology itself. It's still not affordable. Planet earth is still stuck with liquid sodium ion EV batteries. Which cost a fortune to assemble, weigh a ton, and catch fire when you least want it. The long promised (cheaper, better, lighter) solid state batteries are still nowhere on the horizon, despite dozens of announcements in the past 2 years about amazing breakthroughs.

In case you think I’m picking on Ford, you’re wrong. The biggest EV collapse this week was not Ford, or the continued cratering of Tesla sales. It was "Vin Fast", a company you never heard of. InVietnam. For a couple of months this EV maker was the “most valuable car company on earth”, because investors rushed to pour $65 billion into it. Headquarters in Hai Phong. $65 billion! To be fair to Vin Fast, they WERE talking up a possible North Carolina factory. But ran into opposition when their plan involved bulldozing a 2 room Baptist church built in 1888.

Or maybe the Vin Fast factory killed was because they were losing $3 billion a year on their cars. Politicians in North Carolina promised to shower $300 million in taxpayer money on Vin Fast for it’s proposed factory after seeing the artist's renderings. Taxpayers dodged a bullet this time. Vin Fast’s failure certainly has nothing to do with Trump’s policies either. They failed because of crappy design, lackadaisical assembly, and overambitious pricing. Let’s see if someone uncovers embezzlement and fraud too, okay?

I’m just sayin’ . . .

Ford retreats from EVs, takes $19.5 billion charge as Trump policies take hold

The electric Hummer is almost outselling the F-150 Lightning | TechCrunch

Is VinFast Going Out Of Business? - CarsDirect

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bowman81 · M Best Comment

If EV's were such a good idea they would sell themselves. They wouldn't need the government rebates.

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G7J2O · M

@bowman81 Well, let's cancel all the petrol and diesel subsidies then and see what happens...?

This comment is hidden. Show Comment

idontcareok · 70-79, M

@bowman81 very true, if they were a good idea, they couldn't make them fast enough,

SusanInFlorida · 31-35, F

@bowman81 i've marked this as best comment. we don't need subsidies to sell . . .

1 - cell phones
2 - laptops
3 - microwave ovens
4 - uber rides
5 - starbucks latte's

G7J2O · M

@bowman81 they don’t want them in America, true. You’ve been conditioned by Big Oil. Everywhere else, they are close to outselling ICE cars.

SusanInFlorida · 31-35, F

@G7J2O please provide a link to "gas subsidies". my understanding is that oil companies pay a fee to drill anywhere in the USA or offshore. they don't get it for free.

G7J2O · M

@SusanInFlorida then why are there subsidies on gasoline? Surely it would sell itself?

SusanInFlorida · 31-35, F

@G7J2O no link. thanks for conceding you are wrong. good job

jackjjackson · M

That trollling alt never can back up its BS. @SusanInFlorida

G7J2O · M

@jackjjackson I just did back it up. Unlike you, who never, ever backs up anything with facts.

jackjjackson · M

All right smart guy show us readers where you backed that up and provided a link. @G7J2O

whowasthatmaskedman · 70-79, M

@bowman81 They do when the Chinese make thenm and the importing country lets them in..😷

jackjjackson · M

How many Chinese EV’s do you own smart guy? @whowasthatmaskedman

ElwoodBlues · M

@SusanInFlorida says

please provide a link to "gas subsidies".

I can provide actual URLs, whereas you only provide boldfaced title text🤣😂

Global explicit subsidies for fossil fuels amounted to around $1.5 trillion in 2022. This is a vast sum. For context, that’s equivalent to around 1.5% of the global gross domestic product (GDP) or the entire GDP of countries like Russia or Australia

https://ourworldindata.org/how-much-subsidies-fossil-fuels

Globally, fossil fuel subsidies were $7 trillion or 7.1 percent of GDP in 2022, reflecting a $2 trillion increase since 2020 due to government support from surging energy prices.

https://www.imf.org/en/topics/climate-change/energy-subsidies
https://www.imf.org/-/media/images/imf/topics/environment/picture2.png

whowasthatmaskedman · 70-79, M

@jackjjackson Are you still here? None, as a matter of fact. I drive about 3000km a year and not at all at the moment due to foot surgery. Its not worth me buying an EV. The Japanese SUV I have will see me out. 😷

jackjjackson · M

You own a gasoline petroleum vehicle? @whowasthatmaskedman

whowasthatmaskedman · 70-79, M

@jackjjackson Yes Japanese built.😷

jackjjackson · M

I’m driving a hybrid Toyota Land Cruiser. Can’t buy in to an EV at all much less a truck. Have had it for a little over a year and love it. My wife has Subaru Outback. One adult kids has a Subaru Forester another has a Toyota Prius and had another before that and the other has a Range Rover against my advise. Both my sisters have Subarus. The ergonomics of Japanese vehicles are vastly superior to those of US and UK vehicles. Some family members have had German cars which are also superior ergonomically to US cars but in my opinion less so than Japanese cars. O one has had a Hyundai or KIA. I did rent a KIA sedan a couple of times on trips and they weren’t bad either although both felt extremely low to the ground. I’m also not a fan of high relies for vehicles like Range Rover, Audi, Mercedes, BMW. I don’t need a flashy expensive to maintain vehicle. I find nothing negative about my hybrid truck and prefer it to the Lexus version which is gas, flashier and more expensive to repair.

PS interestingly for my truck everything I read and came across said to get one built in Tokyo as opposed to other Japanese cities so I did. Supposedly the plant there does a better job that the others.

whowasthatmaskedman · 70-79, M

@jackjjackson Hybrids make sense here if you are doing any distance driving or high mileage. EVs make sense for second car, or shopping carts that wont leave the city fringe. But unlike the US, we do not have a grid of cities and towns spread across the nation to provide recharge stops. Household batteries and recharge plug ins are the big selling point here. "Free Fuel" for the second car..As it is fuel only costs me $20/25 a month. And my power bill is less than $100 a month. Its not worth the investment for either.😷

ElwoodBlues · M

@bowman81 Turns out that what @SusanInFlorida posted is only HALF the story on Ford and EVs. Here's the other half. Ford is shutting down the gas powered Escape production line to make midsized electric trucks instead. Turns out the death of Ford electric trucks was greatly exaggerated🤣😂

Ford announced that the introduction of its forthcoming mid-size electric pickup truck will lead to the end of production for two SUV models.

The Ford Escape and the Lincoln Corsair, which are both built at Ford's plant in Louisville, Kentucky, will be discontinued after the 2026 model year.

The news was part of Ford's big announcement earlier today, where the automaker revealed details about its Universal EV platform, which will underpin several forthcoming electric vehicles, starting with a modern-day "Model T"—a mid-size EV pickup truck that will be the size of a Ford Maverick but with the interior space of a Toyota RAV4 SUV. Why are we telling you all of this? Well, because the upcoming pickup truck will be built at Ford's Louisville Assembly Plant in Kentucky starting in 2027. That's where both the Corsair and Escape are currently built, but they're being discontinued to make way for the new EV.

https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a65654346/ford-escape-lincoln-corsair-dead-after-2026/

G7J2O · M

@ElwoodBlues of course it’s only half the story. But posting the full story would not suit @SusanInFlorida’s far right anti-EV, anti-California, anti-liberal narrative.

jackjjackson · M

The problem with your view is that she is correct and don’t dare write otherwise you have a reliable source and a link to it. @G7J2O

G7J2O · M

@jackjjackson I don’t have to. @ElwoodBlues has already dismantled her argument more thoroughly than I could have done.

jackjjackson · M

So you can’t are are making up stuff 🤣🥺 @G7J2O

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