The great EV pullback: all the obstacles, cancellations, and delays – The Verge

Ford’s EV and software chief Doug Field is leaving the company

2026-04-15T17:12:05-04:00

Ford is shaking things up as it relates to its EV and software teams. Doug Field, who left Apple five years ago to helm Ford's multibillion-dollar bet on electric vehicles and software, is stepping down next month. Getting a promotion will be Alan Clarke, the ex-Tesla engineer who now leads Ford's California-based skunkworks lab. Clarke's new title will be vice president of advanced development projects, and he will continue to helm the effort to develop Ford's Universal Electric Vehicle (UEV) Platform.

The shake-up comes less five months after Ford announced a massive $19.5 billion writedown on its EV investment, as well as the discontinua …

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Sony and Honda ain’t feelin’ the Afeela anymore

2026-03-25T13:43:05-04:00

Sony and Honda have lost that lovin' Afeela.

The joint venture announced today that it would be discontinuing the $90,000 Afeela 1 electric sedan, as well as the unnamed Afeela SUV concept, as it adjusts to slower EV demand and policy pullbacks. In a statement, Sony Honda Mobility (SHM) determined there was not a "viable path forward" after Honda recalibrated its EV strategy following steep losses.

Earlier this month, Honda said it would take a writedown of as much as 2.5 trillion yen ($15.7 billion) on its EV investments, representing the company's first annual loss in over 70 years as a public entity. The automaker also put the kibosh o …

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All the wrong EVs are getting canceled

2026-04-15T09:00:00-04:00

A Tesla Cybertruck gleaming in the lot of the Tesla showroom in North Hollywood, Los Angeles, on March 29, 2025. | Photo by Simone Lueck / The Verge

These past few weeks have been particularly brutal for the EV industry - and anyone who believes that electric vehicles are the future. Thanks to slowing demand and policy whiplashes, automakers are on an EV murder spree, killing a host of promising new models. The EV graveyard grows bigger by the minute.

And unfortunately, as is often the case, much of the focus seems to be on affordable models that had the potential to attract new customers. Meanwhile, ugly EVs that cost too much and do nothing to move the needle on EV adoption continue to darken our highways.

First, the cheap ones whose bodies have not yet gone cold. The Volvo EX30, a …

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Two more EVs for the trash heap: Volvo EX30 and Honda Prologue

2026-03-17T11:47:37-04:00

The steady stream of news about automakers cancelling or discontinuing electric vehicles continues apace. This week it's Volvo's small, quirky EX30 and Honda's solo electric offering in the US, the Prologue. Both are the latest victims of stagnating EV sales in the US thanks to the Trump administration's decision to eliminate tax incentives.

First, the EX30. The small SUV was the most affordable EV in Volvo's lineup, even if it took some time before it arrived on our shores. Volvo spokesperson Sophia Durr says that the automaker's US division has decided to discontinue the EX30 and EX30 Cross Country after the 2026 model year. It will, how …

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Honda cancels Zero Series EVs, citing ‘extremely challenging’ situation

2026-03-12T10:58:33-04:00

Farewell, Honda Zero. We never knew thee.

Honda is cancelling its Zero Series SUV and Saloon, as well as the Acura RSX EVs, citing an "extremely challenging earnings situation." The Japanese automaker, which unsuccessfully tried to merge with Nissan last year, said it expected to make a net loss of ¥360 billion (~$2.5 billion) to ¥630 billion (~$4.4 billion) in the full year ending this month - which, according to The Financial Times, would be Honda's first ever annual recorded loss since becoming a public company 50 years ago.

Honda, which is grappling with President Trump's tariffs, had been one of the most aggressive automakers in pur …

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Stellantis is in a crisis of its own making

2026-03-03T12:01:17-05:00

Antonio Filosa attends the presentation of the new Fiat 500 Hybrid at the Stellantis FIAT Mirafiori plant in Turin, Italy, in November of 2025. | Elisa Marchina/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Demand for EVs has gone glacial, and one automaker after another is running aground: General Motors threw $7.6 billion overboard. Ford washed $19.5 billion off its books. Leave it to Stellantis to face the most titanic charge yet, a $26.5 billion bill for its own misplaced bet on EVs.

The Jeep, Dodge, and Chrysler parent company hasn't said how much of that unfathomable sum is explicitly due to EV losses, as the write-down wiped away about 25 percent of the company's stock value overnight. Every automaker faces the same cooling EV demand and whipsawing political climate, yet Stellantis appears the most exposed, due in part to longstanding …

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America is at risk of becoming an automotive backwater

2026-02-25T09:21:39-05:00

Traffic moves along the 405 Freeway in Los Angeles in February of 2026. | Apu Gomes/Getty Images

For decades, America's auto industry was the envy of the world, driven by mass production, the rise of Detroit's Big Three automakers, and the iconic stylings of the 1950s and '60s.

Then, through a series of blunders and missteps, things started to unravel. There was the fuel crisis of the 1970s, which led to an influx of Japanese imports that bested Detroit in fuel savings and reliability. And then there were various global financial collapses throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, and a significant decline in automotive quality as the Big Three continued to push bigger and more expensive vehicles, at the expense of road safety and global …

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Trump’s new ‘Buy American’ requirement for EV charging would dramatically curtail build-out

2026-02-11T16:36:30-05:00

It seems clear at this point to say that Donald Trump does not want to spend a single dime on EV charging. He tried to freeze $5 billion in funding for the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) program, which was approved as part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. And when a federal judge ordered the government to unfreeze the funds, his administration came up with a new tactic to stall the plan.

EV chargers must now be built in the US, with components that also originate in the US, in order to receive federal funding, the US Department of Transportation said today. Under the proposal, EV chargers would need to boost their US- …

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Ford’s big bet on EVs didn’t pan out — now it’s pivoting to hybrids and energy storage

2025-12-15T16:14:45-05:00

Ford announced a series of changes to its gas- and electric-powered vehicle business aimed at dramatically increasing hybrid vehicle production in the face of slowing EV sales. The automaker also will introduce some new products as part of this plan, including an extended-range EV version of its F-series truck and battery storage systems to meet growing demand from AI data center construction.

The news comes after Ford has weathered years of compounding losses from its struggling EV business. The 122-year-old company once had aspirations to surpass Tesla in battery-electric vehicle sales, but higher material costs and waning demand have sin …

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Trump embraces gas guzzlers and air pollution by weakening fuel economy standards

2025-12-04T05:36:45-05:00

Motorists drive on Interstate 210 during the morning commute on December 03, 2025 in Pasadena, California.

President Donald Trump announced a new plan that lets carmakers pollute more by making less fuel efficient vehicles. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said today that it'll roll back fuel economy rules finalized last year by the Biden administration for model year 2022-2031 vehicles.

The Trump administration has eliminated incentives for EV purchases, stymied energy efficiency policies, and gutted pollution regulations in general. The president wants the US to produce more oil and gas, and says that his agenda will boost business for American automakers. Critics contend that Americans will ultimately pay for these m …

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