By Robert Bradley Jr.
“The American people have been very clear; they do not want EVs forced upon them. This proposal aims to return EPA regulations to reality, restoring consumer choice, protecting good paying American jobs, and strengthening the nation’s global competitiveness while the agency works to reconsider the Tier 4 standards.” – EPA Administrator, Lee Zeldin. Quoted in E&E News, May 15, 2026.
For well over a century, Henry Ford and Ford Motor Company have considered, tried, and failed with electric vehicles (EVs) versus the internal combustion engine (ICE). In 1896, in fact, Thomas Edison himself advised Henry Ford to go ICE and gasoline/diesel.
Fast forward to 125 years later: Ford has announced a major pullback from EVs, costing the company $35 billion (and counting) in losses and write-downs. Of course, Ford has to reorganize and keep the EV option on the table for public relations purposes (“greenwashing”?). In “Ford’s EV Guru to Step Down,” Wall Street Journal (April 16, 2026), Sharon Terlep reports (quotations follow):
“[Doug] Field, lured by Ford Motor from Apple five years ago to bring the 120-year-old automaker into the digital and electric age, is leaving the company amid a wider reorganization. Field has been leading a secretive effort to develop a line of affordable, high-tech electric vehicles and is the latest high-profile Silicon Valley transplant to exit from a Detroit automaker.”
“Field’s lieutenant and fellow Tesla alum, Alan Clarke, will continue to oversee a new EV platform developed by a “skunk works” team based in California. Ford has said the vehicles on that platform, starting with a $30,000 electric pickup set to launch next year, will compete with Chinese EVs that aren’t yet available in the U.S. but are gobbling up market share around the globe.”
“Ford, like many rivals, has struggled to transform itself into an electrified, software driven automaker to compete with the likes of Tesla and Chinese automakers. Ford’s initial EV offerings have proved to be chronically unprofitable. The automaker recorded $19.5 billion in write-downs last year to pivot back to more profitable gasoline vehicles.
“The automaker also canceled several other next-generation products and plans in recent years, including an electric three-row SUV.”
“Moreover, as Ford seeks to accelerate technologies seen as key to the auto industry’s future, including EVs, hybrids and software updates, it has struggled with quality issues and costly recalls. In 2025, Ford issued more U.S. recalls than any other auto maker, affecting nearly 13 million million vehicles.”
“Felony stupid,” remarked energy commentator Robert Bryce.
Another Look Back
A New York Times article Electric Cars Were a Big Deal at the Turn of the Century. The Last Century (May 1, 2026) remarked how what is new is really old with EVs.
At the dawn of the 20th century, electric vehicles were the stars of American roads. Then they vanished. Then they came back. Then they vanished again.
Just maybe there is something inferior about a technology that consumers have rejected time and again. Maybe the market picks winners, leaving government with the losers. EVs are just an example.
