At some point, possibly before November, the economic damage to the Rust Belt could prove decisive. In the first quarter of 2024, Ford lost an average of $44,000 per unit. Other automakers are also losing big on electric vehicle sales. That doesn’t bode well for the future of automakers, which are already facing mounting defaults and are being forced to raise prices on conventional vehicles to make up for losses on electric vehicles.
Auto dealers are sounding the alarm. Geoffrey Pohanka, chairman of the National Automobile Dealers Association, complained in a recent RealClearEnergy webinar that dealers’ parking lots are filled with unsold Ford Lightnings, which sell for far higher prices than traditional pickup trucks. In a recent survey of 250 “dealer leaders” across the country, half said their sales teams are “not at all excited about selling electric vehicles.” And they shouldn’t be—it’s a difficult proposition. As of July 2023, 92,000 unsold electric vehicles were sitting in dealer lots. In November of that year, nearly 4,000 dealers across the country called on Joe Biden’s administration to “hit the brakes” on electric vehicle mandates.
If dealers are upset, it’s safe to assume workers will be too. Overall, electric cars will require 30% less domestic labor, which could cost at least 30,000 jobs by 2030. Worse, even if electric car sales recover, the bulk of new factories are unlikely to be located in the Midwest, because the unique skills there will be far less important. In 2014, Elon Musk built his $5 billion gigafactory in low-cost Nevada, and in 2020 he announced that the company’s new $1.1 billion SUV plant, which will employ over 5,000 people, would be built outside Austin, Texas. New battery factories are popping up in Republican states like Kentucky, Ohio, Kansas and Georgia.
Electric car advocates are counting on Harris to push for policies that force consumers to buy these vehicles despite clear market resistance. But the current vice president will not be able to remain vague about these green measures forever, even if she wants to please her anti-oil donors.
In places like Michigan, voters are concerned about the economy, taxes and immigration – not identity or environmental politics. The unemployment figures, down by about a million, should serve as a warning to Democrats. If they ignore that warning and continue to worship electric cars, they will likely only drive Midwesterners further into Trump’s arms.
