GM Invests in V-8 Engines as It Backpedals on EVs
https://www.wsj.com/business/autos/general-motors-to-invest-888-million-in-propulsion-plant-23ea7636?
General Motors has abandoned a plan to pump $300 million into electric-vehicle motor production at its upstate New York plant and will instead invest $888 million to make the latest V-8 engines.
Since the EV announcement two years ago for its Tonawanda plant, electric-vehicle sales have slowed, prompting GM and other carmakers to walk back investment plans for the technology.
The company said Tuesday its new plan marks its single largest investment in an engine plant and makes Tonawanda its second propulsion plant to produce the sixth generation of V-8 engines.
DB2
Meanwhile, the Chair of Ford Motor is crying about EV subsidies being cut off.
That plant in Marshall has always been the most problematic. Besides being a considerable distance from any assembly plant that would use the batteries, Ford’s technology partner is CATL, which has drawn a lot of politician spew.
Ford has two other battery plants, co-located with it’s “Blue Oval City” assembly plant. Ford is partnered with a Korean company for those plants, so they are not as controversial as the Marshall plant. Due to slack demand, only one of the two battery plants at “Blue Oval City” is running, and Ford is trying to sell batteries to Nissan.
I expect Ford to drop a bomb about that “Blue Oval City” assembly plant any day. The plant is sized to produce 500,000 electric F-150s/year. Their current “Lighting” plant, at the Rouge, is sized to build 150,000/year, but it’s barely running one shift. The Rouge was shut down for two months last winter, due to lack of demand. And that was before the new regime started sticking a fork in the EV subsidy and incentive plans.
Steve