"Ford CEO Jim Farley also had a disappointing experience in his publicity tour to promote EVs. He acknowledged that "charging has been pretty challenging," and that he only could get the EV batteries charged to 40% in 40 minutes. He described it as a good reality check for what customers go through. For Ford shareholders, one would think the company would have done the reality check before going to market, not after it already had invested billions.

The harshest reality check may come in the form of expensive inventory build-up of unsold EVs that Ford thought customers would buy but is now finding out that customers do not want. Market realities, despite the massive government intervention in the marketplace, may be why Ford and GM are scaling back their ambitious EV production plans for the future, and why Ford has temporarily paused the planned construction of a battery plant in Marshall, Michigan and another in Glendale, Kentucky.

Another red flag for EVs is the lack of profitability for Ford and GM's models. Ford lost $32,000 on every EV it sold in 2023 and expects its EV business to lose $4.5 billion on the year. GM saw its quarterly profits cut by $1.5 billion due to EV losses. Meanwhile, EV market leader Tesla reported shrinking margins and higher costs in the third quarter of 2023, with profits down 22% on the year."