Matthew Lynn Matthew Lynn

If Ford can’t crack electric cars, no one can

A Ford SUV (Credit: Getty images)

It had the history, the manufacturing muscle, the capital, and the brand to make it work. When Ford announced plans to create an all-electric SUV, it looked like the moment the major auto manufacturers could finally bring battery-powered cars into the mass market. Until today. The American company has abandoned its plans to build the new electric car, and announced a $1.9 billion write-off on the project citing cost pressures. The trouble is, if the company that more or less invented the mass production of cars a century ago can’t make electric vehicles (EV) work, then it is very hard to believe that any of the Western manufacturers can.

If Ford is now scaling back, it is hard to see how anyone can compete

This is the latest blow to the struggling EV industry. Despite the billions of euros, dollars and pounds thrown at it in subsidies and tax breaks by governments, and despite targets to replace all the petrol-powered cars on European and American roads over the next decade, sales have stalled, costs have risen, and the manufacturers are struggling.

Matthew Lynn
Written by
Matthew Lynn
Matthew Lynn is a financial columnist and author of ‘Bust: Greece, The Euro and The Sovereign Debt Crisis’ and ‘The Long Depression: The Slump of 2008 to 2031’

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