Automakers that pushed back 2024 electric vehicle goals and plans

Boyden Gray PLLC partner Michael Buschbacher discusses concerns about an electric vehicle mandate at The Bottom Line.

various leading car manufacturers adjusted their electric vehicle (EV) targets and scaled back plans in 2024 in response to sluggish consumer demand for electric vehicles in the auto market.

Automakers aren’t abandoning electric vehicles and continue to see them as an important part of their product lineup going forward, but they’ve softened some of their previously announced ones. Electric vehicle production goals and modified some of their operating plans in response to consumer demand.

Car buyers have increased their interest in hybrid vehicles in recent years, with sales growing at a faster rate than electric vehicles by 2023, according to data from S&P Global Mobility.

A study published in May 2024 by JD Power found that consumers were slightly less likely to consider purchasing an electric vehicle than the previous year, with the main reason for their apprehension being the lack of availability of charging station

Consumer interest in electric vehicles has declined slightly relative to hybrids over the past two years. (Staff photo by Gregory Rec/Portland Press Herald via Getty Images/Getty Images)

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Here’s how some leading automakers have changed their electric vehicle plans through 2024.

General Motors

Mary Barra, CEO of GM said in July that the company pushed back its Orion Assembly EV truck plant six months to mid-2026 and plans to introduce plug-in hybrid vehicles in 2027.

In July, GM cut its projected 2024 electric vehicle production from a top-end projection of 300,000 units to 250,000 units. He also declined to reiterate the target of 1 million units of electric vehicle production capacity in North America by the end of 2025.

GM changed some of its production targets related to electric vehicles. (Photo by Paul Hennessy/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images/Getty Images)

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Toyota

The the world’s largest car manufacturer announced in October that it would delay its plans to build electric vehicles in the US until 2026, after previously targeting late 2025, according to a Reuters report.

The Nikkei business daily reported in September that Toyota also changed plans to build 1 million electric vehicles by 2026 instead of a previously announced target of 1.5 million. Toyota said in a statement that it still plans to make 1.5 million electric vehicles a year by 2026 and 3.5 million by 2030, but said the numbers were benchmarks rather than targets.

VOLVO INVERTS TARGET OF EVS ONLY BY 2030

i return

The Swedish carmaker announced in September that it was abandoning its plan to go all-electric by 2030, as it still hopes to make hybrid vehicles by then.

The company said in a statement that it now aims for 90% to 100% of its global sales volume by 2030 to consist of fully electric and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, with the remaining zero to 10% of its lineup allowing “a limited number”. of mild hybrid models to sell, if necessary.”

Volvo withdrew its plan to have an all-electric lineup by 2030. ((Photo by Beata Zawrzel) / Getty Images)

Ford

Ford announced in August that it would scrap plans to produce an all-electric three-row SUV, instead opting to “leverage hybrid technologies” for the Detroit-based automaker’s next three-row SUV. The company had previously announced in April that it would delay the launch of the new SUV from 2025 to 2027.

The company also updated its electrification strategy and U.S. vehicle roadmap, announcing plans to bring an all-electric commercial van to market in 2026 and a pair of electric pickup trucks the following year.

Ford revised some of its production plans to account for consumer demand. (Photo by Matt Cardy/Getty Images/Getty Images)

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Bentley

The luxury automaker announced in November that it was pushing back its plan to transition to a battery-only electric vehicle lineup from 2030 to 2035, adding that it will continue to make plug-in hybrids until then.