STORY: The New York Auto Show opens to the public Friday, and it comes as the industry faces a tough decision.
Do they keep plowing money into EVs, or hit the brakes?
Big names including Ford and General Motors have already said they are cutting investment in the zero-emission vehicles, amid signs of waning demand.
But South Korea’s Hyundai sees an opportunity as rivals go slow.
Chief Operating Officer Jose Munoz says it’s full speed ahead on EVs:
“We are doubling down on electrification. We saw here in the United States how our EV sales doubled last year. And then this year, we are selling double the growth of the market. The market grew in February year-to-date by about 17%. We grew 38%.”
Munoz says Hyundai will spend $51 billion over three years to ramp up EV output.
GM sees things very differently.
It’s delayed one electric truck factory and slashed projections for EV output.
Ford has also cut predictions for sales of its electric trucks, and shifted workers to build gasoline-powered SUVs instead.
Meanwhile, Toyota is adding EVs to its lineup, but says it’s focusing more on hybrids.
Alistair Weaver is editor-in-chief at auto industry guide Edmunds.
He says companies are trying to keep their options open:
“So what you’re seeing is a lot of brands hedging their bets. We’re going to continue with some gas-powered cars. We’re also going to look at hybrids. And alongside that we’re also going to continue to roll out our new EV strategy.”
Hedging their bets or not, the automakers have a deadline to meet.
New U.S. rules look set to demand that half of all sales there are EVs or plug-in hybrids by 2030.
Initial targets set by the Environmental Protection Agency were even tougher, and met howls of protest from the industry.
Now Hyundai’s Munoz says even meeting the new goal will be “challenging”.
