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Ford’s top boss is sounding the alarm on electric vehicles, warning that President Donald Trump’s policies are hurting the industry.
Speaking at the Ford Pro Accelerate conference in Detroit on Tuesday, CEO Jim Farley said he expects U.S. demand for EVs to shrink far more than automakers anticipated.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if EV sales in the US go down to 5%,” Farley told the audience, according to Bloomberg. Sales of EVs currently account for nearly 10% of the broader domestic market.
Farley’s warning comes as Trump, in his second term, has rolled out a string of policies aimed at the EV market. The biggest blow being the end of the federal $7,500 EV tax credit, which officially expired today. That incentive was scrapped under the administration’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
If there’s a silver lining, it’s that the looming deadline boosted sales temporarily. Jalopnik reports that 146,332 electric cars were sold in August, the highest monthly tally in U.S. history.
But the end of this subsidy isn’t the industry’s only hurdle. Earlier this year, Trump rolled back federal emissions standards and stripped states of the ability to set their own stricter rules. That move wiped out California and other states’ rules that would have required automakers to sell more zero-emission vehicles.
The EV industry isn’t just dealing with policy headwinds, either. Elon Musk’s growing unpopularity has turned off some buyers, potentially dragging down demand not only for Tesla but for EVs in general.
Meanwhile, Trump’s ICE raid of a Hyundai EV battery plant under construction has delayed the project by up to three months.
All of this turbulence has automakers rethinking their strategies. Some are delaying launches, while others are quietly shifting money back into internal combustion vehicles.
Nissan said in August it would further delay production of three new all-electric SUVs at its Mississippi facility, pushing the debut from 2025 all the way to 2028.
Honda also shelved plans for a large electric SUV that had been slated for 2027.
For its part, Ford has already pulled the plug on a new three-row electric SUV, a project that was already struggling before Trump’s policy shifts.
The automaker’s EV division lost $1.3 billion in the second quarter alone and now expects to burn through as much as $5.5 billion on EVs this year.
On Tuesday, Farley said the smarter move now may be “partial electrification” like hybrids. In his view, fully electric models make the most sense as commuter vehicles with short drives. He said this would only account for 5% to 7% of the market.
He said Ford is already looking to retool its battery and EV plants to include hybrid production.
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Source: Gizmodo