GM, Like Tesla, Is Seeing EV Demand Fall Off

Most people aren’t aware of GM’s aggressive plan to walk back EV production at the Toledo powertrain plant, signaling a shift in the car market. We’ve been watching as demand for electric cars has been falling off rapidly, even though a number of media outlets are behaving as if Tesla is the only one suffering from the effects and all because Elon Musk is a very bad man.

The Porsche 911 GT3 with a manual beat the Ford Mustang GTD’s Nurburgring lap time.

It’s almost like people are realizing they won’t be forced by the federal government to buy an electric car, so they’re choosing of their own free will to not. We’ve personally known a number of people who bought a Tesla or some other EV because they believed we would all be forced into them eventually, so they might as well get ahead of the curve.

Realizing it needs to give the people what they want, GM has changed plans for its Toledo Propulsion Systems plant, which makes transmissions, shifting from an aggressive plan to cater to EVs to one that heavily favors transmissions for internal combustion engine models.  

As Detroit Free Press reports, GM is actually increasing production in Toledo, accommodating more Silverado and Sierra trucks rolling off production lines. This is yet another clear signal that consumers are largely rejecting EVs on a broad scale, not just Teslas.

GM won’t disclose just how much shifting assembly workers from EV drive units to ICE transmissions, not to mention retooling part of the facility, will end up costing the automaker. It’s probably a sizable amount of money but obviously has been deemed a good investment as the car market is shifting rapidly.   

Remember this the next time you see a story that tries to portray Tesla as the sole automaker struggling to sell electric cars, all because Elon made some people angry. Everyone’s struggling to sell EVs right now because the winds of change are blowing in another direction.

Image via GM