The Donald Was Right

The Donald has a love-hate relationship with electric vehicles.

That might be a reasonable description for all his relationships.

Just ask Pam Bondi, or Kristi Noem, or any of his current or former wives, or his children.

Love-hate might be The Donald’s love language.

But I digress. Let’s get back to electric vehicles.

“They don’t go far. They cost a fortune,” The Donald said about electric vehicles during a rally in 2023.

He even said that supporters of electric vehicles should “rot in hell” and that supporting (or funding) the nascent electric vehicles industry was “lunacy.”

The Donald criticized the Biden administration for selling Americans “down the river” with what he called a “ridiculous all-electric car hoax.”

Then The Donald had his bromance with Elon.

“I’m for electric cars, I have to be because Elon endorsed me very strongly,” The Donald said after he cashed Elon’s Super PAC cheques.

Although the bromance was short-lived, lest we forget, The Donald did turn the White House lawn into a Tesla showroom and claimed that he purchased a Tesla Model S.

Good timing, Donny, they’re not going to be available much longer.

Like other things hidden in the White House, that Model S hasn’t been seen since.

Once back in office, gingerly skipping over a potential prison sentence, The Donald made it clear that he was not a fan of the Biden-era Inflation Reduction Act.

That’s why he killed it off with his own Big Beautiful Bill last year.

In doing so, he ended the US electric vehicle tax credit program.

This year, he and the dangerously brilliant (#sarcasm) Lee Zeldin upended the EPA’s own interpretation of the endangerment finding in an effort to make gas vehicles more affordable.

Both moves were heralded as actions to give choice back to American car buyers.

The insinuation was that no one should tell you which vehicles to drive; we should let the markets decide.

It turns out that The Donald and Lee were right, you don’t need the government to fund tax credits to incentivize people to buy electric vehicles.

What you need to do is start an illegal war with Iran that cuts off oil supply through the Strait of Hormuz, pushing crude oil prices to the highest point in years, and driving the price of gas to over $4 a gallon at US pumps.

That’s how you get people to drive electric vehicles!

Let the oil markets decide.

Genius!

The subsequent increase in gas prices helps people see how cost-effective owning an electric vehicle might actually be and how electrification might be a path toward energy independence.

As the fine folk at electrek.co put it, the oil crisis is making drivers realize they can’t afford not to drive electric.

The Donald might be playing 4D chess after all.

I’m just not sure he knows that he’s playing, who he’s playing, or how to win.

Edmunds put a Geely Galaxy M9 through a series of rigorous tests ​for the first time, and Editor-in-Chief Alistair Weaver came away with a notable impression: US automakers have good reason for concern. reuters.com, theverge.com, edmunds.com

Three Democratic senators urged The ​Donald to ban Chinese ‌automakers from building vehicles in the US and to ​prevent Chinese cars assembled ​in Mexico or Canada from ⁠entering the US. reuters.com

Numerous robotaxis operated by Chinese tech giant Baidu froze in a major city on Tuesday, reportedly trapping passengers inside, stranding them on highways, and causing at least one accident in snarled traffic. theverge.com

VW’s high-tech new electric SUV in China starts at $35,000. electrek.co

SpaceX has confidentially filed for an IPO. The company was valued at $1.25 trillion after recently merging with Elon’s xAI. Bloomberg reported the company could seek a valuation of over $1.75 trillion. When SpaceX eventually goes public, Elon will become the first person in history to helm two separate trillion-dollar publicly traded companies. cnbc.com

Tesla ​plans to expand in Japan to at least 60 stores as it seeks to become the ‌country’s biggest imported car brand by as early as next year. reuters.com

Tesla deliveries mark weakest quarter in a year. reuters.com

Tesla’s cheaper vehicles aren’t helping its declining sales. techcrunch.com

Weekly protests outside a Tesla store in Ohio for more than a year have raised questions about whether drivers have the right to honk their horns whenever they want. autonews.com

ICYMI: Humanoid robot joins Melania Trump at White House for summit on technology and kids. cbc.ca

Chinese companies are cementing their role in the humanoid robot supply chain, providing motion components, while the US leads in AI chip design. wsj.com

LimX Dynamics Luna robot performed a short catwalk demonstration and executed an illusion turn, a gymnastics-style movement used to demonstrate balance, agility, and motion control. interestingengineering.com

Ukraine’s anti-drone tech is in high demand as Iran attacks its neighbours. nbcnews.com

Fighting robots give Ukraine hope in its war with Russia. theguardian.com

SAIC and GM deploy wheeled humanoid robots on their Buick battery assembly line in China. cnevpost.com

Vancouver is rolling out a team of parking-enforcement wheeled robots to issue parking tickets. 604now.com

The US government has agreed to reimburse TotalEnergies nearly $1 billion to abandon offshore wind projects that could have generated over 4 GW of clean power. oilprice.com

Jet fuel prices have more than doubled due to supply disruptions around the Strait of Hormuz, creating a severe global shortage and hitting airlines hardest. Airlines are raising fares and grounding flights as fuel costs surge, especially across Asia and Europe. oilprice.com

Two of Australia’s largest sources of jet fuel could be cut off as South Korea and China eye restrictions. theguardian.com

Demand for hydropower surges as Trump clamps down on clean energy. theguardian.com

Is Hyundai copying the Defender, the Bronco or the Scout? You decide. theverge.com, caranddriver.com, autoblog.com

Hyundai said that exports to Europe and North Africa, which typically travel through ‌the Middle East, are being disrupted by the conflict in the region. reuters.com

Stellantis is in early talks with Leapmotor to build EVs in Canada, potentially at its Brampton Assembly Plant. autonews.com

Unifor raises concerns about Stellantis’ plans for its Brampton Plant. autonews.com

Industry Minister Mélanie Joly rejected Stellantis’s plan to assemble EVs with premade kits from China at its idled Brampton plant, saying production must support the local supply chain. theglobeandmail.com

The $10,000 Leapmotor A10 is the new-age Neon Stellantis needs in the US (and Canada). electrek.co

Ford’s new assembly process could make crash repairs faster and cheaper. autonews.com

GM expects massive growth from OnStar and Super Cruise subscriptions. autonews.com

Toyota’s Woven Capital appoints new CIO and COO in push for finding the “future of mobility”. techcrunch.com

Rivian beats quarterly delivery estimates. reuters.com

Rivian spinoff, Also, will build autonomous delivery vehicles for DoorDash. techcrunch.com

Lucid has an “improperly welded seat belt” problem. techcrunch.com

Several automakers unveiled new EVs at the New York Auto Show, despite lagging US consumer demand and a sharp downturn in US EV sales following Washington’s elimination of a $7,500 EV tax credit. reuters.com

Uber expands its $4,000 “Go Electric” grant for drivers in the US who want to switch to EVs. theverge.com

Uber and WeRide ramp up robotaxi operations in Dubai. techcrunch.com

Waymo starts robotaxi services at San Antonio International Airport. techcrunch.com

Airbnb now offers private car shuttles between your rental and your arrival or departure point, right in their app. theverge.com

NHTSA announced its initial decision to permanently ban the use of airbags produced by Jilin Province Detiannuo Safety Technology (DTN). The DTN airbags, which were produced in China and likely imported illegally, are to blame for 10 fatalities and two serious injuries over the last three years. caranddriver.com

Canada signals China EV deal won’t derail USMCA negotiations. autonews.com

Dealer Huddle NEXT is a one-day VIP Automotive event series that is focused on the future of the Canadian Automotive Industry.

I’m gonna be there, you probably should too.

Dealer and OEM folk who use the link below can get their tickets for free (use promo code “Growdy” if the link doesn’t work).

Get Tickets For Dealer Huddle Next In Toronto (Apr 15 from 8 am to 4 pm)

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