“It is a great day of celebration,” said Granholm, announcing the LG Chem project in July 2010. “I want the President . . . to really feel and know how grateful we are in Michigan for becoming the North American battery capital.”
According to a Washington Post account, the LG Chem Michigan project received $150 million from federal stimulus spending and was “also eligible for more than $175 million in tax relief from the state and local governments through 2025.”
This was contingent, the newspaper noted in February 2013, on the plant producing batteries for 60,000 electric vehicles by the end of 2013. Instead, according to the newspaper, a Department of Energy inspection found that this branch of Granholm’s “North American battery capital” had “yet to manufacture cells used in any vehicles sold to the public” and that its “workers passed time watching movies, playing board, card and video games, or volunteering for animal shelters and community groups.”
LG Chem’s hypothetical Michigan-made batteries were supposed to be used in the GM Volt EV, but sales were so awful that a plant in South Korea was already building enough to satisfy the paltry demand.
Two years later in October 2015, GM and LG Chem announced another battery agreement, this one for the Chevy Bolt EV. Unlike the weak-selling Volt, the Bolt caught fire—literally, the batteries caught on fire. By October 2021, LG Chem agreed to pay $1.9 billion so GM could recall and repair every Bolt built to that point.
Even before the Volt, GM’s first electric vehicle was the Impact, a tiny two-seat, aluminum subcompact built in the 1990s. Speaking to the unfortunate name, comedian Jay Leno asked: “Was crash-and-burn already taken?”
Last month, to the surprise of nobody paying attention, GM announced it would discontinue the Bolt.
If anything is going to get ordinary folk manning (or whatever the woke term should be) the barricades, substitute 'eat cake' with 'drive EVs'. Riots??? US - you ain't seen nothing yet!
So here's the answer - hydrogen powered internal combustion engine vehicles (HICEVs): Toyota; Hyundai; Cummins; Deutz; JCB. No more expensive than gasoline ICEVs; buoyant second hand market; whole of life recycling. And, most importantly - iron/steel/aluminium-based! No 'copper crunches'; no 'critical mineral crunches'.
All that's needed is a hydrogen economy and there's only one way of doing that - with nuclear enabled hydrogen (NEH) manufactured by small modular reactors (SMRs).
Note: SMRs generate pollution-free electricity and heat to manufacture NEH and they are also iron/steel/concrete-based with no mineral restrictions.
I love my Subaru Diesel. I can get 1200 km , about 750 miles on a full tank on the highway and can stretch it a bit more if I drive a bit slower. And it takes less than 5 mins to fill up. And with only 125000 miles on the clock, I'll probably get another 10 years life
Dealers are not incentivized to sell them either. EVs don't need much maintenance. And that hurts their service centers, which are a big $$$$ maker for dealers.
Been saying all along that Ford and GM in about 2-3 more years will have their hand out saying we built and no buyers. I’m not buying an F-150 that brags about going 200-300 mile per charge. I don’t have time to
Mess with that nonsense. BUT hybrid might be interesting...JS.
Concerning electric vehicles, the government bureaucrats obviously think the American people have the word "FOOL" tattooed across our foreheads. They have to know their mandates are not realistic. I suspect there's another plan in the works, and it involves the sunsetting of individually owned cars.
That is obviously part of their plan. And taking away gas service from all homes so you won't be able to use a much more economical gas generator, grid defection as its called. They will force you to pay +30 cents/kwh for your solar/wind electricity and you must use it for heat, hot water & cooking as well as transportation, if you can afford an EV, most can't.
Everyone forgets a simple truism ... If the government is doing it, it's because the free market wouldn't. Mandates and subsidies are tools to used to modify your behaviour. If we want to end the insanity we'll need to stop voting for the manipulators.
I think both Ford and GM will be near bankruptcy within 3 years. Which of course will require a government bailout.
Nobody wants to pay a premium to be inconvenienced. The age of the vehicle fleet in the US is over 10 years and rising, because fewer people can afford new cars. When you add in the increased cost of EVs and the forced reduction of new gasoline cars there is only one possible outcome.
Want a sure fire business? Auto repair. Somebody is going to have to keep the old clunkers running.
My personal solution -a 1967 VW beetle in the barn. Easy on gas, easy to fix, acres of spare parts. I’m good till 2050 if they don’t outlaw gasoline.
Feels like Cuba already. WHY are these idiot politicians destroying our countries??? I want the. GONE. Voters better get SMART right QUICK before we don’t even GET to vote. These idiots are acting like KINGS and we are their serfs. Let’s WAKE THEM UP! 😡😡😡
Cuba is really good at keeping old clunkers running. I live on the Oregon coast where old PT Cruisers go to die…but they never do. If that car can run for decades we can keep anything running. Sooner or later even the dumbest of us (politicians) will be forced to see that electric cars are toys for rich people. Hope it’s not too late
Yes, that is what we are looking at; whoever can fix older cars will be in huge demand. They can never just ‘end’ the fossil fuel industry so we will always have access to gas. The ppl in so-called ‘charge’ are far from smart.
Obviously that is the plan. And that's for the entire Western World. Us lowly serfs aren't allowed to own vehicles. EVs are just bait-and-switch. If they really cared about oil & emissions they would entirely focus EV production on replacing heavy diesel transportation & also diesel generation. They aren't so they don't. We're all to live in our 15min ghettos so we don't need vehicles. They just won't come out and say it because they are bald-faced liars and make up lofty narratives for every devious plan they are instigating.
That's a good question. Problem is their will be huge surpluses of gasoline, since the economy runs on diesel, and they've done ZERO to replace diesel. You refine oil you get more gasoline than diesel.
"I defined climate corporatism as the use of government power to increase the profits of big corporations at the expense of consumers in the name of climate change."
This literally could not be said better or in a more succinct way.
So let me get this straight, F loses over $20k per EV sold and slashes lightning prices by 17%. It has to get way worse before it gets better is what I read about this whole fiasco.
Until I see America start to erect large strip mines across the country to fuel this "transition", the more I believe it's just fairy dust and unicorns. If the majority of the metals to produce EVs come from countries far away, we can only speculate the harsh conditions in which they are processed and refined. And if they were close enough to where we could see the atrocities with our own eyes, we wouldn't be able to virtue signal to our friends by buying an EV.
It will be a real reckoning when these things are filling lots and the sales numbers continue to drop. I think we are headed that direction unfortunately and it will continue to be funded by taxpayer dollars.
Thanks for the real reporting, Robert. You always bring hard numbers and do great research.
We have seen the reporting on conditions in African countries with children as young as six in an open pit cobalt mine, owned by CCP Belt & Road initiative, with what looks like thousands of people of every age scrabbling to earn a few pennies in the murderous sun. This sick push by globalists to destroy our way of life and relegate the poorest of the poor to even more poverty makes me furious. Africa NEEDS Oil and Gas to succeed! That is how the West did what we did; cheap, easy to move energy. The globalists do not want them to have that. They need the basically free labor to mine for the ‘electric’ age and basically to ensure they do not succeed at accomplishing what the West has. Such a resource rich Continent. That’s what the globalists want. They want Canada’s resources, too. Trudeau is a WEF fool/tool trying to help them achieve that. They will fail.
I see it the same way Apples. We, in N America need to invest in energy and commodities in order to boost production. Stop letting other world powers (China) control our way of life. Sadly, government policies are so woke that I think things have to get much worse before they open their eyes. Maybe even a war (heaven forbid).
LG (which really stands for "Lucky Goldstar") must also mean "Lucre from Granholm" because this latest crookedness is part of a trend with her...
https://capitalresearch.org/article/bonkers-about-batteries-the-unauthorized-biography-of-jennifer-granholm/
LG Chem
“It is a great day of celebration,” said Granholm, announcing the LG Chem project in July 2010. “I want the President . . . to really feel and know how grateful we are in Michigan for becoming the North American battery capital.”
According to a Washington Post account, the LG Chem Michigan project received $150 million from federal stimulus spending and was “also eligible for more than $175 million in tax relief from the state and local governments through 2025.”
This was contingent, the newspaper noted in February 2013, on the plant producing batteries for 60,000 electric vehicles by the end of 2013. Instead, according to the newspaper, a Department of Energy inspection found that this branch of Granholm’s “North American battery capital” had “yet to manufacture cells used in any vehicles sold to the public” and that its “workers passed time watching movies, playing board, card and video games, or volunteering for animal shelters and community groups.”
LG Chem’s hypothetical Michigan-made batteries were supposed to be used in the GM Volt EV, but sales were so awful that a plant in South Korea was already building enough to satisfy the paltry demand.
Two years later in October 2015, GM and LG Chem announced another battery agreement, this one for the Chevy Bolt EV. Unlike the weak-selling Volt, the Bolt caught fire—literally, the batteries caught on fire. By October 2021, LG Chem agreed to pay $1.9 billion so GM could recall and repair every Bolt built to that point.
Even before the Volt, GM’s first electric vehicle was the Impact, a tiny two-seat, aluminum subcompact built in the 1990s. Speaking to the unfortunate name, comedian Jay Leno asked: “Was crash-and-burn already taken?”
Last month, to the surprise of nobody paying attention, GM announced it would discontinue the Bolt.
If anything is going to get ordinary folk manning (or whatever the woke term should be) the barricades, substitute 'eat cake' with 'drive EVs'. Riots??? US - you ain't seen nothing yet!
So here's the answer - hydrogen powered internal combustion engine vehicles (HICEVs): Toyota; Hyundai; Cummins; Deutz; JCB. No more expensive than gasoline ICEVs; buoyant second hand market; whole of life recycling. And, most importantly - iron/steel/aluminium-based! No 'copper crunches'; no 'critical mineral crunches'.
All that's needed is a hydrogen economy and there's only one way of doing that - with nuclear enabled hydrogen (NEH) manufactured by small modular reactors (SMRs).
Note: SMRs generate pollution-free electricity and heat to manufacture NEH and they are also iron/steel/concrete-based with no mineral restrictions.
https://energycentral.com/comment/106165#comment-106165
If a Democrat wins the Presidency in 2024, expect the complete mandate of only EVs, with a 2030 to phase out ICEs.
Democrats are Marxist zealots in respect of climate.
But slightly over 50% of American robotically vote for them, and all the horrors they bring.
I love my Subaru Diesel. I can get 1200 km , about 750 miles on a full tank on the highway and can stretch it a bit more if I drive a bit slower. And it takes less than 5 mins to fill up. And with only 125000 miles on the clock, I'll probably get another 10 years life
Another thing not mentioned in this article:
Dealers are not incentivized to sell them either. EVs don't need much maintenance. And that hurts their service centers, which are a big $$$$ maker for dealers.
Been saying all along that Ford and GM in about 2-3 more years will have their hand out saying we built and no buyers. I’m not buying an F-150 that brags about going 200-300 mile per charge. I don’t have time to
Mess with that nonsense. BUT hybrid might be interesting...JS.
Concerning electric vehicles, the government bureaucrats obviously think the American people have the word "FOOL" tattooed across our foreheads. They have to know their mandates are not realistic. I suspect there's another plan in the works, and it involves the sunsetting of individually owned cars.
That is obviously part of their plan. And taking away gas service from all homes so you won't be able to use a much more economical gas generator, grid defection as its called. They will force you to pay +30 cents/kwh for your solar/wind electricity and you must use it for heat, hot water & cooking as well as transportation, if you can afford an EV, most can't.
"Electrify everything" is impossible. Needs six times more copper, ten times more nickel, 26 times more cobalt... than are known to exist.
The Greta Green Energy Reset is Impossible:
https://vsnyder.substack.com/p/report-about-energy-that-i-requested
When will governments learn that the money they tax out of the economy to create jobs will destroy more jobs than they create?
Everyone forgets a simple truism ... If the government is doing it, it's because the free market wouldn't. Mandates and subsidies are tools to used to modify your behaviour. If we want to end the insanity we'll need to stop voting for the manipulators.
And defund the UN.
I think both Ford and GM will be near bankruptcy within 3 years. Which of course will require a government bailout.
Nobody wants to pay a premium to be inconvenienced. The age of the vehicle fleet in the US is over 10 years and rising, because fewer people can afford new cars. When you add in the increased cost of EVs and the forced reduction of new gasoline cars there is only one possible outcome.
Want a sure fire business? Auto repair. Somebody is going to have to keep the old clunkers running.
My personal solution -a 1967 VW beetle in the barn. Easy on gas, easy to fix, acres of spare parts. I’m good till 2050 if they don’t outlaw gasoline.
Feels like Cuba already. WHY are these idiot politicians destroying our countries??? I want the. GONE. Voters better get SMART right QUICK before we don’t even GET to vote. These idiots are acting like KINGS and we are their serfs. Let’s WAKE THEM UP! 😡😡😡
Cuba is really good at keeping old clunkers running. I live on the Oregon coast where old PT Cruisers go to die…but they never do. If that car can run for decades we can keep anything running. Sooner or later even the dumbest of us (politicians) will be forced to see that electric cars are toys for rich people. Hope it’s not too late
Yes, that is what we are looking at; whoever can fix older cars will be in huge demand. They can never just ‘end’ the fossil fuel industry so we will always have access to gas. The ppl in so-called ‘charge’ are far from smart.
Dude! A ’67 beetle? That’s going to get too valuable to drive around on shopping errands. LOL. Good inflation hedge though.
Great shape... spare motor. There's a wrecking yard in southern CA that has square miles of them... parts will always be available.
Didn't think much about the appreciation. You are probably right.
Obviously that is the plan. And that's for the entire Western World. Us lowly serfs aren't allowed to own vehicles. EVs are just bait-and-switch. If they really cared about oil & emissions they would entirely focus EV production on replacing heavy diesel transportation & also diesel generation. They aren't so they don't. We're all to live in our 15min ghettos so we don't need vehicles. They just won't come out and say it because they are bald-faced liars and make up lofty narratives for every devious plan they are instigating.
Yeah, that's my concern... are they going to make it really hard to get gasoline?
That's a good question. Problem is their will be huge surpluses of gasoline, since the economy runs on diesel, and they've done ZERO to replace diesel. You refine oil you get more gasoline than diesel.
"I defined climate corporatism as the use of government power to increase the profits of big corporations at the expense of consumers in the name of climate change."
This literally could not be said better or in a more succinct way.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2023/07/18/extreme-heat-record-limits-human-survival/
Great article as always.
So let me get this straight, F loses over $20k per EV sold and slashes lightning prices by 17%. It has to get way worse before it gets better is what I read about this whole fiasco.
Until I see America start to erect large strip mines across the country to fuel this "transition", the more I believe it's just fairy dust and unicorns. If the majority of the metals to produce EVs come from countries far away, we can only speculate the harsh conditions in which they are processed and refined. And if they were close enough to where we could see the atrocities with our own eyes, we wouldn't be able to virtue signal to our friends by buying an EV.
It will be a real reckoning when these things are filling lots and the sales numbers continue to drop. I think we are headed that direction unfortunately and it will continue to be funded by taxpayer dollars.
Thanks for the real reporting, Robert. You always bring hard numbers and do great research.
We have seen the reporting on conditions in African countries with children as young as six in an open pit cobalt mine, owned by CCP Belt & Road initiative, with what looks like thousands of people of every age scrabbling to earn a few pennies in the murderous sun. This sick push by globalists to destroy our way of life and relegate the poorest of the poor to even more poverty makes me furious. Africa NEEDS Oil and Gas to succeed! That is how the West did what we did; cheap, easy to move energy. The globalists do not want them to have that. They need the basically free labor to mine for the ‘electric’ age and basically to ensure they do not succeed at accomplishing what the West has. Such a resource rich Continent. That’s what the globalists want. They want Canada’s resources, too. Trudeau is a WEF fool/tool trying to help them achieve that. They will fail.
I see it the same way Apples. We, in N America need to invest in energy and commodities in order to boost production. Stop letting other world powers (China) control our way of life. Sadly, government policies are so woke that I think things have to get much worse before they open their eyes. Maybe even a war (heaven forbid).
EV = green money laundering machine