Shift Magazine - February 2022 - 6

President Joe Biden, second from left,
got a look at Ford's F-150 Lightning last
year with, from left, Dearborn Truck Plant
Manager Corey Williams, Ford Motor Co.
Executive Chairman Bill Ford and CEO
Jim Farley.
VISIONS OF
AN EV FUTURE
Automakers betting big that consumers will make electric shift
BY SEBASTIAN BLANCO
I
6
n most parts of the world, electric
vehicle sales are little more than
a trickle right now. Sure, Norway
stands in a class of its own - 65 percent
of vehicles sold there in 2021 were
fully electric - but in other regions, that
percentage is more likely to be the low
single digits.
Even so, the auto industry is confident
consumers will make the switch in the
coming years. For anyone unclear about
this, just look at the huge sums of money
automakers have said they will spend on
the shift to EVs.
" There are a lot of variables at play
here, but if things continue the way they
are, we fully expect electric vehicles to
become a very prominent part of the
shift * february 2022
industry, " said Brent Gruber, senior director
of global automotive at J.D. Power. " I
think there's no better indication of that
than the amount of investment that manufacturers
have put into the space. "
Just how much are automakers spending?
The exact amount is impossible to
calculate, but even a short list shows
eye-popping outlays across the industry.
Stellantis will spend $34 billion on
its shift to EVs, for example, just less
than the $35 billion Toyota will spend to
bring 30 electrified models to market by
2030. Ford has promised it will spend
more than $30 billion on electric vehicles
through 2025 while General Motors has
said it will spend $35 billion in that time.
Nissan will spend more than $17 billion.
Some automakers are hedging their
EV bets - American Honda's general
Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb discusses a $229
million investment by Stellantis in three
plants to make an electrified transmission.
Shift Magazine - February 2022

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