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May 25, 2018 02:00 AM

OTHER VIEWS: Have auto makers gone crazy on EVs?

Keith Crain
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    Crain

    Except in China, where government rules and objectives are easier to implement and enforce, electric vehicles seem to be headed for a disastrous conclusion.

    Car companies continue to increase their commitment to EVs at a very substantial investment. They seem to be rushing blindly to reach nonexistent customers.

    The result is that dozens of electric models will be offered to an uninterested group of consumers who, unless fuel costs skyrocket, have little or no desire to buy them.

    All this investment in electrification will be at the price of conventional internal combustion engine vehicles.

    In fact, there is real danger that the global automotive landscape will be littered with unneeded and unwanted EVs while the demand for conventional vehicles will be reduced because of a lack of capital investment.

    A company that chooses not to build electric vehicles might well have a sales windfall without traditional competition.

    It will be interesting — no, fascinating — to see how auto companies allocate their resources over the next decade or two.

    Manufacturers planning electric vehicles seem to be committed to the use of batteries rather than some other technology that might be more effective, such as fuel cells.

    If you add the huge investment required for these same companies to develop and test autonomous vehicles at the same time, resources will become limited very quickly.

    At each global auto show, such as the one recently in Beijing, manufacturers seem to roll out more and more EVs. Indeed, the Chinese will probably be in the best shape to supply EVs for their market.

    But it will be fascinating to see if sales develop for these products in the coming months. It would appear to be a very dangerous game these companies are playing.

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