Biden keeps pushing everyone to get rid of their gas-powered cars while he loves his Corvette.
But demand is dropping when people look at the high cost of these cars and uncertainty about their reliability.
As interest in electric vehicles drops, so does the cost of this important resource that makes battery-powered cars possible.
Lithium sales tank
The predicted demand for electric vehicles is not nearly as high as some might have hoped, and it’s causing sales of lithium, a main component of EV batteries, to take a nosedive.
North Carolina-based manufacturer Albemarle Corp. is the largest lithium supplier for electric vehicle batteries.
The company just reported that it had a much lower quarterly profit than expected, with a net income of $302.5 million or $2.57 per share.
That’s in comparison to $897.2 million or $7.61 per share in the year prior.
This is bad news for lithium providers who once saw demand mirror that of electric vehicle purchases.
But factors like oversupply and weak demand have caused the lithium market to tank right alongside the decreased demand for the very vehicles the resource is supposed to power.
Automakers and government officials had high hopes that US consumers would purchase electric vehicles to replace their traditional, gas-powered counterparts.
However, as of now, the desire for EVs is not nearly what many had hoped or expected.
Albemarle isn’t the only company affected by the decreased demand — other lithium producers like Pilbara Minerals and Livent have also released not-so-great quarterly reports.
Yet, some lithium producers still claim that they expect to see long-term demand for the resource increase over the next several years.
Currently, sales numbers for electric vehicles are not in line with these expectations, as General Motors just abandoned its original plan to produce 400,000 new EVs in the next two years.
A major sales slowdown
The sales numbers make it clear that Americans have little to no interest in purchasing electric vehicles.
Andrew Stuttaford of National Review wrote, “Americans must be ungrateful, foolish and selfish people, or so some, I suspect, would like us to believe. Despite generous tax incentives, a “boiling” planet, and the technological wonders of our new electric vehicles (EVs), they do not seem to be buying EVs at the pace that has been expected of them.”
Companies increased lithium supply to help support the production of EV batteries as governments announced bold plans to implement more eco-friendly forms of transportation.
But consumers simply aren’t interested in EVs, mostly due to the excessively high cost.
For example, the small Chevy Equinox EV starts at around $35,000, and the Ford F-150 Lightning pickup truck begins at around $70,000.
Gas vehicles are typically between 20 and 50 percent less expensive, even with the new government tax credits designed to increase pressure on consumers to make the switch.
The lack of charging infrastructure is also another factor causing buyers to be apprehensive, as well as feeling uncertain about their reliability.
Informed American will keep you up-to-date on any developments to this ongoing story.
