Boyden Gray PLLC partner Michael Buschbacher discusses concerns about the electric vehicle mandate in The Bottom Line.
Several leading automakers have adjusted their electric vehicle (EV) goals and pushed back plans to 2024 in response to sluggish consumer demand for EVs in the automotive market.
Automakers are not abandoning EVs and continue to view them as an important part of their product lineup going forward, but they have softened some of their previously announced EV production goals and changed some of their operating plans to respond to consumer demand.
Carbuyers have increased their interest in hybrid vehicles in recent years, with sales growing faster than EVs by 2023, according to data from S&P Global Mobility.
A study released in May 2024 by JD Power found that consumers were significantly less likely to consider purchasing an EV than the previous year, with the main reason for their concern being the lack of a charging station.
Consumer interest in EVs has declined slightly compared to hybrids over the past two years. (Staff photo by Gregory Rec/Portland Press Herald via Getty Images / Getty Images)
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Here’s a look at how some of the leading automakers have changed their EV plans for 2024.
General Motors
GM CEO Mary Barra said in July that the company is pushing back its Orion Assembly EV truck plant by six months to mid-2026 and that it plans to introduce plug-in hybrid vehicles in 2027.
In July, GM lowered its forecasted EV production for 2024 from a high of 300,000 units to 250,000 units. It also declined to repeat the target of 1 million units of EV production capacity in North America by the end of 2025.
GM has changed some of its EV-related production goals. (Photo by Paul Hennessy/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images/Getty Images)
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Toyota
The world’s largest automaker announced in October that it would delay its plans to build EVs in the US until 2026, after targeting as late as 2025, according to a Reuters report.
The Nikkei business daily reported in September that Toyota had again changed plans to build 1 million EVs by 2026 instead of the previously announced goal of 1.5 million. Toyota said in a statement that it still plans to make 1.5 million EVs a year by 2026 and 3.5 million by 2030, but said these figures are estimates rather than goals.
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Volvo
The Swedish carmaker announced in September that it will abandon its all-electric plan by 2030, as it expects to produce hybrid vehicles by then.
The company said in a statement that it now aims for 90% to 100% of its global sales volume by 2030 to be fully electric EVs and plug-in hybrids, with the remaining zero to 10% of the range of it allowed “a limited number. of soft models to be sold, if needed.”
Volvo has pushed back its plan to have an all-EV lineup by 2030. ((Photo by Beata Zawrzel/NurPhoto via Getty Images) / Getty Images)
Ford
Ford announced in August that it would cancel plans to produce an electric three-row SUV, opting instead to “use hybrid technology” for the Detroit automaker’s next three-row SUV. The company had previously announced in April that it would delay the launch of the new SUV from 2025 to 2027.
The company also updated its electrification strategy and North American vehicle roadmap, announcing plans to deliver an all-electric commercial van in 2026 and two electric trucks the following year.
Ford has revised some of its production plans to account for consumer demand. (Photo by Matt Cardy/Getty Images / Getty Images)
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Bentley
The luxury car maker announced in November that it would postpone its planned transition to battery-only vehicles from 2030 to 2035, adding that it would continue to produce hybrid vehicles until then.
Bentley Flying Spur Hybrid car. (Bentley/Fox News)
Bentley plans to release its first fully electric model – what it calls a “Luxury Urban SUV” – in 2026.
FOX Business’ Aislinn Murphy and Reuters contributed to this report.
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