Former Auto Industry Execs Sound Alarm on Government Electric Vehicle Push

In a recent interview with Fox News Digital, former auto industry executives Bob Lutz and Bob Nardelli expressed their concerns about the mishandling of electric vehicle (EV) adoption by the U.S. government.

The two industry veterans argued that the aggressive push for EVs has been ill-timed and poorly executed, leading to consumer skepticism and market challenges.

Nardelli, the ex-Chrysler Chairman and CEO, cautioned that convincing consumers of the reliability and affordability of EVs will be a significant hurdle in the short term. “You could see what’s happening out there,” he said. “We’re seeing the cascading effect of a failed initiative.”

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Lutz, a former executive at Ford, Chrysler, and General Motors, echoed these sentiments, attributing the premature EV push to “a colossal amount of hype” from the “liberal mainstream media” and the government’s climate change policies. “And yes, it did come too soon and too fast,” he added.

According to Nardelli, the forced transition to zero-emission transportation began on the first day of the Biden administration, when the President halted oil and drilling projects while setting an ambitious goal of making more than half of new car sales electric by 2030.

However, the reality on the ground paints a different picture. In 2022, EVs accounted for less than 1% of all U.S. vehicle registrations, and since then, major EV manufacturers have faced significant setbacks.

Tesla, the leading EV maker, missed its 2023 Q1 expectations, while Ford announced production stops on its electric trucks and cars.

Rivian, another prominent player in the EV market, lost a staggering $5.4 billion in the last year and has paused work on its billion-dollar manufacturing plant in Georgia.

Nardelli argued that automakers and the Biden administration would have seen more success and consumer acceptance if they had first focused on hybrid vehicles as a transitional step towards full electrification.

Lutz, however, pointed out that hybrids were introduced to consumers before Tesla revolutionized the fully-electric car.

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The former Chrysler executive, who headed the company from 2007 to 2009, emphasized the importance of a gradual evolution towards EVs, allowing for the development of charging infrastructure and the bolstering of the electrical grid to meet the increased demand. “The utilities, the electrical system in this country is going to put us at a tremendous disadvantage as we advance further with electrical demand. That’s going to be a shortfall,” he warned.