Mainstream media outlet backs Trump on EVs

CBS News surprised viewers on Sunday when the network sided with President Donald Trump against Transportation Secretary Peter Buttigieg on the issue of electric vehicles.

Biden administration forces more EV production despite falling demand

Consumer demand for electric vehicles (EVs) has been plummeting, leading major automakers to slash EV production, withdraw EV investments, and abandon new EV models altogether.

Nevertheless, the Biden administration in March issued new climate mandates aimed at forcing more EV production. The new rules from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) contain tight emissions standards that will require 56% of new vehicle sales to be fully electric by 2032, with an additional 13% required to be hybrids.

‘A car that nobody wants’

On Sunday, CBS News “Face the Nation” host Margaret Brennan confronted Buttigieg about recent remarks by Trump that “nobody wants” EVs. She played a clip of Trump’s remarks in full, which included:

“Do you notice [Biden]’s trying to save the electrical vehicle but not the gas-powered, which is the vehicle that everybody wants. They’re going crazy with the electric car, costing us a fortune. We’re spending hundreds of billions of dollars subsidizing a car that nobody wants and nobody’s ever gonna buy.”

“He’s not wrong,” Brennan challenged. 

“Oh, he’s wrong,” Buttigieg replied with a nervous laugh.

“On the purchasing, he’s not,” Brennan pressed. “Of the 4 million vehicles purchased…269,000 electric vehicles were sold in the US market. It’s up like 2%.”

The TV host also asked Buttigieg about his department’s progress in building a network of EV charging stations, which cost taxpayers $7.5 billion in 2021. So far, only seven or eight charging stations have been built. When Buttigieg said that the government plans to build half a million charging stations by 2030, Brennan laughed.

American carmakers are being forced to invest in EVs at a time when the global auto industry is experiencing a shake-up over costly gambles on an electric future.

Hertz

In March, Hertz CEO Stephen Scherr resigned after his bet on EVs cost the car rental giant its biggest quarterly loss since 2020. Hertz had been praised by the Biden administration for its ambition to convert 25% of its fleet to EVs by the end of this year. In January, however, the company announced it would instead be selling its 20,000 EVs — including Teslas — at heavily discounted prices and replacing them with gas-powered cars.

Mercedes-Benz

Mercedes-Benz also recently had to amend its ambition to only sell electric cars by 2030. Instead, EVs are expected to make up only 50% of the German carmaker’s sales over the next decade.

Apple

In February, Apple abandoned its multi-billion dollar effort to create an electric car. Despite being a decade in the works and employing 2,000 people, Project Titan, as it was called, was axed due to falling consumer demand.

Aston Martin

A lack o consumer demand is also partly to blame for Aston Martin placing its battery-operated “supercar” on hold until 2026.

“Demand, certainly at an Aston Martin price point, is not what we thought it was going to be two years ago,” said Aston Martin Executive Chairman Lawrence Stroll. 

Ford

In December, Ford slashed production of its flagship EV at its assembly plant in Dearborn, Michigan by half. The automaker cut the monthly production quote for the all-electric F-150 Lightning pickup truck from 3,200 units to 1,600 units per month.