Amid Lower Than Expected EV Demand, Ford Scaling Back Michigan Battery Plant. This Doesn’t Bode Well For Canada.

InsightSpencerFernando

Good thing the Canadian government didn’t throw a bunch of taxpayer money at EV battery plants here in Canada…

As Canadians begin to realize the truly immense scale of our taxpayer dollars that the Liberals threw at the EV battery industry, it turns out that EV demand is lower than many expected.

Among those who are having to readjust is Ford.

According to CNBC, the large automaker is scaling back plans for a large EV battery plant in Michigan, in response to demand that is disappointing on the downside:

“Ford Motor is scaling back plans for a $3.5 billion battery plant in Michigan as consumers shift to electric vehicles more slowly than expected, labor costs rise and the company moves to cut costs.

Ford executives including CEO Jim Farley and Chair Bill Ford initially announced the facility in February. It quickly became a political target due to its connection to Chinese battery manufacturer Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., or CATL. The plant is a wholly owned Ford subsidiary, but the U.S. automaker is licensing technology from CATL to produce new lithium iron phosphate, or LFP, batteries for EVs.

Ford said Tuesday it is cutting production capacity by roughly 43% to 20 gigawatt hours per year and reducing expected employment from 2,500 jobs to 1,700 jobs. The company declined to disclose how much less it would invest in the plant. Based on the reduced capacity, it would still be about a $2 billion investment.”

As noted by Dan McTeague, the Canadian government is putting more than $50 BILLION of our tax dollars towards an industry that isn’t turning out as expected:

Our country continues to pay the price for electing an economically illiterate fool as Prime Minister. And that price looks to be higher and higher with each passing day.

Spencer Fernando

***

I don’t take a cent of government money. Instead, I am funded by freedom-loving Canadians like you. If you value my independent perspective, take a moment to chip in whatever you are able.

You can contribute using PayPal at the button below. You can select “make this a monthly donation” if you would like to contribute on an ongoing basis.