Auto manufacturers afraid to speak out against EVs, says top carmaker

Toyota CEO Akio Toyoda last week revealed that a “silent majority” of carmakers do not agree with the globalist vision of an electric vehicle-only future but are too afraid to say so. 

"People involved in the auto industry are largely a silent majority," Toyoda told reporters during a recent trip to Thailand, according to the Wall Street Journal. "That silent majority is wondering whether EVs are really OK to have as a single option. But they think it’s the trend so they can’t speak out loudly." 

“Because the right answer is still unclear, we shouldn’t limit ourselves to just one option,” he added. 

Electric vehicles comprised over a quarter of Toyota’s total sales in Q1 2022 alone, and the company currently has 7.5% of the US EV market share, topping all other automakers after Tesla and Chevrolet. 

And despite Toyota’s pledge to sell 3.5 million EVs by 2030 at a cost of $28 billion, the carmaker insisted earlier this year that demand is just not there. 

“I don’t think the market is ready. I don’t think the infrastructure is ready. And even if you were ready to purchase one, and if you could afford it . . . they’re still too high,” said Toyota Motor North America Executive Vice President Jack Hollis in August. 

But despite the industry’s misgivings, the Biden administration has decided that EVs should make up 50% of all US car sales by 2030. EVs currently make up just 5% of the US light vehicle market. States such as California have declared that all vehicles must have zero emissions by 2035. 

In fact, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in July he is “astonished” that Americans are not switching to EVs. 

“I’m still astonished that some folks — and I felt this as I was testifying in Congress yesterday — some folks seem to really struggle to let go of the status quo,” Buttigieg said in an interview on CNBC’s Squawk Box after pushing electric vehicles. The secretary also blasted “naysayers” who are “speaking as if the only power sources that exist are solar, wind or hydrocarbon.” 

“The more pain we are all experiencing from the high price of gas, the more benefit there is for those who can access electric vehicles,” Buttigieg told Congress this summer. 

In his Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, Biden offered a $7,500 tax credit to EV owners, though industry experts say criteria in the bill are such that no vehicles will actually qualify for the credit. 

The auto industry’s concern about EVs — particularly as voiced by Toyota’s Jack Hollis — are well-founded when considering certain drawbacks of owning an EV, which can include replacing its parts. 

In one instance, a Florida man received a quote to replace the battery in his Chevrolet Volt for $29,842.15. According to Truth Press, the dealership confirmed the estimate and said the price was due to the battery being hard to obtain and the car’s dated technology. The estimate raises questions about how often EVs will need to be upgraded, and at what cost.    

Then there’s the weather, which is known to impact EVs more than gasoline-fueled cars. 

In August, the California Independent System Operator asked Californians who own electric vehicles to refrain from charging them to conserve electricity needed to deal with an expected heat wave. 

But it’s not just summer; winter’s cold has been known to affect an EV’s driving range between 20%-41%, reports Axios. According to University of Michigan’s Energy Institute Director Anna Stefanopoulou, EVs “prefer the same sort of temperature range that people do. Anything below 40 or above 115 degrees Fahrenheit and they’re not going to deliver their peak performance.”