Ford Loses $849 Million On EVs, NY Times Has Passed Peak “Energy Transition,” SMR Contender List Hits 50

Three short items for a Friday.

This chart shows Ford’s stock price over the past five years. In the first quarter of 2022, when the company announced it would spend some $50 billion on electric vehicles, Ford’s stock sold for more than $20. Today, Ford’s shares are trading for less than $11.

The bad news for Ford Motor Company’s shareholders is that the company continues to lose big money on every EV it sells. The soupçon of good news is that those losses appear to be shrinking a bit.

On Monday, Ford announced its first-quarter results, which include EBIT (earnings before interest and taxes) of $1 billion. Those results would have been far better had it not lost $849 million on its Model E segment. Ford sold 22,550 EVs in the first quarter. That means it lost about $37,650 for each EV sold. (h/t to JL.) In a press release, the company addressed the EV business, saying it “remains focused on improving gross margins and exercising a disciplined approach to investments in battery facilities and next-generation products.”

Ford has been hemorrhaging money on EVs for three years. How did the company get here? I’ll explain Ford’s EV losses, spotlight the declining use of “energy transition” in the pages of the New York Times, and provide an update on the growing list of companies hoping to build and sell small modular reactors.