John Ripley

The “EV pullback” is a potentially fatal mistake by car manufacturers, and journalists are falling for the childish narrative that EVs are somehow becoming less popular, or some fad which will pass.

Just because there’s big money involved doesn’t mean people know what they’re doing. If anything, this era of humanity is defined by an inverted relationship between wealth and ability.

Mar 18 at 4:25pmIvory for iOS
Show threadMx. Chara Aznable (they/them) of Pnictogen4d ago
@jripley I suggest that something like this has always been a secret weapon of the petroleum sector, something they've hoped for by promoting Elon Musk as the personal and sole public face of electric vehicles (and indeed of greenwashed capitalism in general.) And yes I do suggest the somewhat conspiracist idea that Musk has effectively been a mole of the oil industry, deliberately kept afloat in order to confine EVs to joke status, an expensive toy for elitists. But now that Musk is hideously unpopular and his business empire is coming unglued, he's dragging down the popularity of the EV with him. Other manufacturers can point to sagging TSLA sales and pretend that the reason isn't Elon Musk's crapulence but the fault of the electric vehicle itself, evidence that the market just isn't there for them.
Show threadJohn Ripley4d ago

@mxchara No, that's the thing—EV sales are _not_ slumping. It's only an issue for the few big US and EU manufacturers, while everyone else is gobbling up their customers. Most notably, manufacturers in China.

It really doesn't matter what Musk or big oil does here, because EVs are both popular and profitable, and wherever that combination exists, someone is going to fill the demand. That's the irony in all of this: markets are going to find that profit, regardless of the narrative.

Show threadJohn Ripley4d ago

Trivial search for "global EV sales 2025" https://www.instituteforenergyresearch.org/international-issues/ev-sales-grew-20-globally-in-2025/ results in "20% growth".

Whenever an article is telling you there's a slump in EV sales, what it's really telling you is the author only looking at Tesla sales figures. (Or they're a Musk fanboy who still thinks Tesla represents the majority of sales)

Show threadTofu Golem4d ago
@jripley
EV pullback of an excuse to avoid acknowledging that comes is making better electric vehicles.