Are we still convinced that electric vehicles are the best way forward?

[teamzr1]

Ehh, Canada

The Biden administration awarded Canadian electric bus maker Lion Electric $159 million in advance to manufacture 435 school buses between 2022 and 2024, making it the third-largest recipient of such funding.
The company has since fallen into bankruptcy, failed to deliver hundreds of the buses it promised, and warned school districts that its dire financial straits prevent it from servicing those in circulation.

As a result, many of those districts are turning back to diesel.

The Washington Free Beacon reported earlier this year that Lion, then nearing bankruptcy, had yet to deliver $95 million worth of the electric buses it pledged to produce as part of the Biden administration's $5 billion Clean School Bus program.
Since then, Lion was sold for just $6 million during bankruptcy proceedings after being valued at $4.7 billion as recently as June 2021. The company also permanently shuttered multiple manufacturing plants, fired the majority of its employees, and told consumers that it could no longer honor warranties and purchase orders in the United States.

SURPRISE!

Whoda thunk it?
Only everybody but Kamala and crew.

New USA EPA head Lee Zeldin, who has been like a blue-tick hound on the trail of every misspent dollar his agency was handing out before he took over, had another bomb to drop about POTATUS and the rest of his marauding band of Green grifters.
Not only did Lion fail to deliver $95M worth of buses that were ordered, but the Biden EPA had written Lion a $160M check for the entire deal upfront.

. Several school districts across the country have completely removed their Lion buses from service over mechanical and safety concerns. A superintendent for a Midwest school district told industry publication Clean Trucking the district's buses could not heat up in cold weather, lost steering and braking ability at times, had defective frames, and regularly displayed error messages that forced drivers to reset the vehicles.

"The buses do not run for more than a month before needing more repairs," Coleen Souza, assistant to the superintendent of Winthrop Public Schools in Maine, told Clean Trucking.
School officials whose districts have not received the Lion buses the Biden administration had promised them are losing hope that their vehicles will ever arrive.

"We have not received any buses," Dawn Wallace, superintendent of the Ohio Valley School District in Adams County, Ohio, told the Free Beacon. "At this point, we are not really hopeful that we will. We will maintain our diesel-powered fleet and, yes, continue to purchase those in the future." Jason Stabler, superintendent of the Bureau Valley School District in Manlius, Ill., echoed Wallace's concerns.

The money's gone, the buses these school systems (some municipal transportation systems, too) have will, before long, start to develop gremlins of the electrical persuasion and crap out, with no warranty, probably no parts, and for darn sure no one to fix them.
Pray no one is hurt or injured or freezes to death on one of these buses in the meantime.

Zeldin's EPA says they're monitoring the Lion bankruptcy, but good luck with that it's a Canadian company, to start, and the multibillion-dollar boondoggle was just unloaded during a bankruptcy auction for a mere $6 million.
Not much on those bones for anyone to recover anything.
Almost like it's by design. Like, seriously, where does $4.7B vaporize to?

Only the greene cultists seem to be able to pull that kind of scam off right up to the bitter end.
POOF! Into the ether alongside with their unicorn fart promises.

 

[teamzr1]

Barra should be fired !

GM. on Tuesday reported that it sunk roughly $1.6 billion into electric vehicle manufacturing capacity that it no longer is using because of shifting federal auto policies under President Donald Trump.
GM reported the loss to the Securities and Exchange Commission as what's known as an impairment charge.
Impairment charges reflect assets that are not expected to bring in profits as initially expected.

GM "made significant investments and contractual commitments in the development of electric vehicles (EVs) to help the Company’s vehicle fleet comply with emissions and fuel economy regulations that were scheduled to become increasingly stringent," according to a company filing.
"Following recent U.S. Government policy changes, including the termination of certain consumer tax incentives for EV purchases and the reduction in the stringency of emissions regulations, we expect the adoption rate of EVs to slow," according to GM's filing.

"These developments have caused us to reassess our EV capacity and manufacturing footprint."
GM executives have continued to call electrification the company's "North Star."
But, along with other EV makers, the company has been shaken this year by Republicans' removal of a $7,500 tax credit for EV buyers and lessees, as well as Trump's efforts to pull back federal rules limiting vehicle greenhouse gas emissions.

GM more than doubled its electric vehicle sales in the third quarter compared with the same period a year ago, largely due to drivers hoping to take advantage of the tax credits before they expired Sept. 30.
Analysts predict a steep drop-off in EV sales in the coming months.
Interest in EVs among U.S. drivers, while increasing, is also doing so at a far slower pace than many in the industry expected.

Also, the bulk of GM's impairment charge of $1.2 billion represents machinery and other equipment to make EVs that is now sitting unused.
Another $400 million is mostly from canceled contracts with suppliers to provide GM with more parts, materials and equipment than it now can use.

 

[teamzr1]

GasBuddy confirms national average hits lowest level in months as first $1.99 price surfaces

The national average price of gasoline in the U.S. fell below $3 per gallon on Sunday for the first time since December 29, 2024, according to GasBuddy, North America’s trusted fuel savings platform for more than 25 years.
As of 9:30 a.m. ET, the intra-day national average stood at $2.969 per gallon, on track to potentially be the lowest daily average since May 2021.
However, prices may not hold at that level for long, with increases expected in the Great Lakes following last week’s refinery fire which boosted wholesale gasoline prices in the region.

Seasonal factors could push prices even lower in the coming weeks. GasBuddy forecasts the national average could dip into the $2.80s by year’s end as gasoline demand eases, and oil prices remain near multi-year lows.

The recent decline stems largely from OPEC’s decision earlier this year to increase oil production, marking a shift from its 2023 strategy of cutting output to prop up prices. Since March 2025, OPEC+ has steadily raised production, fueling expectations of a potential crude glut.
Some investment banks now warn oil could fall into the $40-per-barrel range as early as 2026.
Combined with falling seasonal demand and the switch to cheaper winter gasoline, pump prices have dropped sharply, including a $1.99 per gallon cash price reported to GasBuddy at a station in Evans, Colorado.

By the numbers:

• Current national average: $2.97/gal, 16 cents lower than a year ago
• Days since last $2.99 national average: 295
• Median U.S. gas price: $2.82/gal
• Most common U.S. gas price: $2.89/gal

“We saw a few $2.99 days last year, but this year brings the strongest potential for extended sub-$3 prices since 2021,” said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy.
“This drop is overwhelmingly being driven by the significant increase in oil production from OPEC throughout 2025, which has meaningfully rebalanced the global oil market.
That, combined with weaker demand and inflation finally easing, has created the perfect environment for lower prices.
While some may be quick to assign political credit, the reality is that global supply dynamics, particularly OPEC’s production decisions, have been the primary force behind the relief drivers are seeing at the pump.”

 

[teamzr1]

General Motors Co. is ending production of electric delivery vans at a plant in southern Ontario, dealing another blow to a Canadian auto sector that is hemorrhaging jobs.

The automaker is stopping the assembly line that made BrightDrop vans in Ingersoll, Ontario. The future of the CAMI plant was already in doubt after GM announced in April it would halt production for months because of weak demand.
It sold just 274 of them in the first quarter.

“A changing regulatory environment and the elimination of tax credits in the United States have made the business even more challenging,” GM said in a statement Tuesday. “The decision is part of broader adjustments the company is making to North America EV capacity.” It’s not moving production of the van to the United States.

The company said it will speak with Unifor, the Canadian autoworkers union and the Canadian and Ontario governments about the future of the factory, which lies about halfway between Detroit and Toronto.

Canada’s auto sector sells most of its production to the U.S. market and has been severely hurt by President Donald Trump’s tariffs and hostility to foreign auto imports. The U.S. levies have led GM and other automakers to shift some production to the United States.

Last week, Stellantis NV ended plans to manufacture the Jeep Compass SUV at its plant near Toronto, putting 3,000 direct jobs on the line and many more at nearby suppliers.
The Canadian government has threatened legal action against the automaker: Industry Minister Melanie Joly said she would consider Stellantis in “default” in light of government support extended to the automaker.

Stellantis plans to make that vehicle at a plant in Illinois instead.

 

[teamzr1]

General Motors has laid off 1,700 workers across manufacturing sites in Michigan and Ohio.

The company cited a slowdown in the electric vehicle market as the reason for the mass layoffs.
There were around 1,200 layoffs at Detroit's electric vehicle plant and 550 cuts at Ohio's Ultium Cells battery cell plant, the company confirmed.
Additionally, there have been 850 temporary layoffs at that site in Ohio and 700 at Ultium Cells' Tennessee plant.
'In response to slower near-term EV adoption and an evolving regulatory environment, General Motors is realigning EV capacity,' the company said in a statement.

GM fired another 500 people who worked at the two GM Tech centers, They were informed of this by an email only.
'Despite these changes, GM remains committed to our U.S. manufacturing footprint, and we believe our investments and dedication to flexible operations will make GM more resilient and capable of leading through change.'

GM also said it will temporarily pause battery cell production at its Ohio and Tennessee plants starting in January, with plans to restart by mid-2026 after upgrading the facilities.
The company confirmed on Tuesday that it is axing 300 positions and closing a Georgia tech hub.

That news came after GM, the maker of Chevrolet, GMC, Cadillac, and Buick cars issued 200 additional pink slips at its technical center in Warren, Michigan.
It also comes after the company stopped production at its Canadian facilities that built its electric panel van, Brightdrop. 950 staffers were placed on temporary leave.

GM's job cuts are the latest in a string of billion-dollar companies slashing white-collar jobs in the US.
The Georgia facility first opened in 2013 to focus on in-car software and dealership data. At its peak, the center employed around 900 people.
The company tells the Daily Mail that remaining workers will be offered positions at other US IT hubs or will work remotely.

GM and its Detroit nemesis, Ford, have been on a continued Wall Street win streak since April, when their shares were crashing after President Donald Trump unveiled steep automotive and aluminum tariffs.
Investors have been bullish on GM's approach to AI, including its deployment of manufacturing 'co-bots' that are expected to work with human workers on manufacturing floors, and upcoming vehicle innovations.

GM's job cuts add to a bleak outlook for Americans seeking new roles. Layoffs have risen 140 percent from a year ago, even though corporate earnings are strong and stocks are on a record pace.

 

[Nassau65]

Very sad for the employees who have lost their jobs. There was a time when a job at any of “ the big three”, was a job for life if you wanted it to be so.

 

[Roscobbc]

Very sad for the employees who have lost their jobs. There was a time when a job at any of “ the big three”, was a job for life if you wanted it to be so.

A repeat story through the decades here too - last night news was Amazon expecting to lay-off thousands of staff due to the expected use of AI.

 

[teamzr1]

General Motors Co. and Samsung SDI have pulled back on construction of a massive electric vehicle battery plant near New Carlisle, Indiana, with a number of workers on the site laid off earlier this month.

Contractor Barton Malow confirmed the recent layoff at the $3.5 billion project but declined to provide specifics, including how many workers were let go and how many remained onsite.
GM spokesperson Kevin Kelly confirmed some workers were taken off the project but declined to provide specifics. He said construction continues.

News of the slowdown comes as GM aggressively cuts other EV costs and pushes more money back into gas-powered trucks and SUVs.
Policies promoting EVs have been rapidly dismantled under President Donald Trump, and before that customer demand hadn't matched initial projections.

The automaker said earlier this week it was laying off thousands of workers who make EVs and batteries across several sites, including at its existing joint-venture Ultium Cells battery plants in Ohio and Tennessee.

Barton Malow, the New Carlisle project contractor, said in a statement that it "recently had to lay off some of our workforce" and that such cuts are "an unfortunate part of the natural ebb and flow of the construction business."
"We recognize the impact it has on our team members and their families, and commit to supporting them through this transition and working to get them back onto this or another project shortly," said the company statement sent by spokesperson Eric Fish.

The project's timeline was previously delayed when the companies last year said they planned to open in 2027, a year after initially planned. Schalliol said the current project slowdown caused a supplier planning to locate near the battery plant to pause its plans.
But he said the plan remains for the battery plant to open by December 2027. It's scheduled to eventually create 1,600 jobs.

"We're playing the long game," Schalliol said, who added he's confident that the plant will open and produce something, even if it's not the originally-planned type of EV battery cells.
GM didn't spend all the money on the project, he said, "to convert this into the world's largest pickleball facility."

"I don't see any way, especially with the current environment, with the direction of (Trump's) 'drill baby drill,'" he said. "They're not going to get the energy credits they need to put a battery plant in place."

 

[Roscobbc]

Some rather telling facts and figures about actual EV sales over the last 5 years here in the UK. 2025 seems to have been a disaster for new electric car registrations.

 

[CaptainK]

2025 post April in the UK is gonna be bad for new EVs - they are now taxed, which means most decent EVs fit into the "luxury car" txt band, spending out however many hundreds it is now for the first 5 odd years. So for a finance buyer, that's every year they have the car (3 years?).

So I completely understand why some would be put off EVs now. A mate of mine bought his new Tesla Model 3 long range specifically before April, to avoid the 5 year extra tax. Obviously still pay the "normal" level of yearly tax for cars post 2017 (£195?), but avoids the extra "luxury car tax".

 

[teamzr1]

After the federal $7,500 EV tax credit expired at the end of September, sales of battery-powered cars fell off a cliff.
Car companies with electric vehicles all posted massive drops in October, the first full month without the incentive that had helped prop up demand for more than a decade.

The credit, first introduced in 2008 and expanded under President Joe Biden, offered up to $7,500 for qualifying electric cars built primarily in the US.
That changed when President Donald Trump signed the Big Beautiful Bill Act in July, ending the program effective September 30.
Buyers rushed to lock in deals before the deadline, leaving dealerships with empty lots and automakers with a sales sugar crash.

Hyundai's all-electric lineup plunged 71 percent month-to-month, with the popular Ioniq 5 down 80 percent.
Toyota sold just six of its bZ4X crossovers in October, compared with 1,401 the month before.
Ed Kim, president and chief analyst at AutoPacific, says the impact will hit the hardest on affordable EVs meant to lower the cost of entry starting in 2026.

The next-generation Nissan Leaf, for example, will start around $30,000, but without the credit, it loses a crucial price cushion that could have brought it closer to $22,500.
Slate, an American-made EV truck brand with Jeff Bezos' backing, initially said it would produce a small truck for Americans at around $20,000. Without the credit, industry analysts expect the car's price will be closer to $30,000.

For entry-level buyers, that difference can be make-or-break.
'Price is one of the biggest reasons people won't buy an EV,' Kim says.
'To an entry-level consumer, the difference between $22,500 and $30,000 is massive, and it's safe to say that a $30,000 EV won't have the same impact as a $22,500 one would.'

Even so, there was a smudge of hope for drivers hoping to reduce their carbon footprint: hybrid sales are booming.
Hyundai reported a 41 percent jump in hybrid sales last month, suggesting Americans still want to go electric.
Still, 2026 is a make-or-break year for electric vehicle sales.

Several carmakers also including Chevy, Toyota, Rivian, Tesla, and Ford have all set out plans to build lower-cost EVs for American buyers.
Only time will tell if they'll scoop up the fully battery-powered cars without an assist from Washington.

 

[teamzr1]

Jeep is recalling 375,000 plug–in hybrid vehicles worldwide due to a faulty battery that can catch on fire.
More than 320,000 recalled cars are in the US.
Jeep owners told to park cars outside over fire risk that automaker cannot work out how to fix
The off–road SUV brand, which is owned by the Netherlands–based Stellantis, is aware of 19 reported fires and one injury related to the issue.

Jeep tells owners which include 228,221 Jeep Wranglers model years 2020–2025 and 91,844 Jeep Grand Cherokees model years 2022–2026 to park their SUVs away from any buildings to avoid a larger fire.
The carmaker doesn't currently have a remedy for the issues and advises owners not to charge their cars until they're fixed out of 'an abundance of caution.'

'Vehicle risk is reduced when the battery charge level is depleted,' a spokesperson said.
Jeep's batteries are produced by Auburn Hills, Michigan-based Samsung SDI.
For owners, the problem is becoming a repeat headache.
The same batteries in the 2023 and 2024 model years were recalled for a nearly identical issue last year.

Those vehicles will require another trip to the dealership, safety regulators said.
Representatives for Samsung SDI didn't immediately respond to the Daily Mail's request for comment.