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   From: elonx@protonmail.com   
      
   In a speech at a Michigan auto parts plant, former President Donald Trump   
   distorted the facts about electric vehicles and the U.S. auto industry.   
      
       Trump said President Joe Biden “has dictated that nearly 70% of all   
   cars” made in the U.S. must be “fully electric” in 10 years. The   
   administration cannot mandate how many cars must be all-electric. It   
   proposed new emission standards, and how the industry meets the new rules   
   is up to them.   
      
       We found no support for Trump’s claim that the proposed rules would   
   kill 40% of the auto industry’s jobs. Instead, Ford’s CEO said EVs take   
   40% less labor to make, but the company would offset job losses by making   
   its own EV parts.   
      
       Trump claimed all-electric vehicles can only “drive for 15 minutes   
   before you have to get a charge.” Most EVs have a range of 110 to 300   
   miles, with some expensive models reaching 400 to 500 miles.   
      
       He claimed EVs are “bad … for the environment.” But studies show that   
   electric cars produce less pollution over their entire lifespan than gas-   
   powered vehicles.   
      
       He said Ford expects to lose $4.5 billion on EVs. The company   
   projected that loss for this year but expects to make a profit on EVs by   
   the end of 2026.   
      
       Trump falsely claimed he “saved American auto manufacturing” after   
   “eight long years of [Barack] Obama and [Joe] Biden.” The Obama   
   administration helped rescue the industry, which increased the number of   
   motor vehicle and parts manufacturing jobs in Michigan by 79,600, or 83%,   
   in those eight years.   
      
   Trump’s speech, which he delivered on Sept. 27 in lieu of attending a GOP   
   primary debate, came during a strike by the United Auto Workers union   
   against Ford Motor Co., Stellantis NV and General Motors Co. Trump   
   delivered his remarks at a nonunion plant, Drake Enterprises, which   
   manufactures driveline and transmission parts.   
      
   Michigan was a key swing state in Trump’s last two presidential elections   
   — he won the state in 2016, but lost it in 2020 — and it is expected to be   
   a critical state again next year.   
   EPA Proposal Not a Mandate   
      
   Trump mischaracterized regulations proposed by the Biden administration to   
   reduce pollution from motor vehicles.   
      
   “Biden’s job-killing EV mandate has dictated that nearly 70% of all cars   
   sold in the United States must be fully electric less than 10 years from   
   now,” Trump said.   
      
   Not exactly. As the New York Times wrote in April, “The E.P.A. cannot   
   mandate that carmakers sell a certain number of electric vehicles.”   
      
   Instead, that month, the Environmental Protection Agency introduced new   
   proposed rules that would significantly restrict the amount of emissions   
   from light-, medium- and heavy-duty vehicles, which includes passenger   
   cars, trucks and large pickups and vans. If approved, the proposed   
   standards, with some exceptions, would phase in starting in 2027.   
      
   In a statement at the time, the EPA said the new standards are “projected   
   to accelerate the transition to electric vehicles,” which “could account   
   for 67% of new light-duty vehicle sales and 46% of new medium-duty vehicle   
   sales” in 2032. But that depends on “the compliance pathways manufacturers   
   select to meet the standards,” the agency said.   
      
   In theory, automakers could find other ways to meet the emissions targets   
   without having to produce as many EVs, as Joseph Goffman, principal deputy   
   assistant administrator for the EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation, wrote   
   in prepared testimony for Congress in June.   
      
   “The proposed standards are performance-based emissions standards and are   
   technology neutral, meaning that manufacturers can choose the mix of   
   technologies (including internal combustion technologies) that they   
   believe would be best suited for their fleet to meet the standards and to   
   meet the needs of American drivers,” his opening statement said.   
      
   The Alliance for Automotive Innovation, a trade group representing the big   
   automakers, said it would be difficult to meet the standards in the time   
   proposed by the rules.   
   Auto Jobs and the Transition to EVs   
      
   Trump made several claims about an increase in U.S. electric vehicle   
   manufacturing and the loss of auto industry jobs. He claimed, “By most   
   estimates, under Biden’s electric vehicle mandate, 40% of all U.S. auto   
   jobs will disappear … in one or two years.” That figure may be from Ford’s   
   CEO saying it takes 40% less labor to make an EV than a gas-powered   
   vehicle, but the CEO went on to say the company wants to manufacture its   
   own EV parts to offset those job losses.   
   Photo by scharfsinn86/stock.adobe.com.   
      
   We don’t know where Trump got his 40% figure; the campaign didn’t respond   
   to our request for support.   
      
   However, last November Ford President and CEO Jim Farley told reporters:   
   “It takes 40 per cent less labour to make an electric car, so . . . we   
   have to insource, so that everyone has a role in this growth,” according   
   to the Financial Times. “We have a whole new supply chain to roll out, in   
   batteries and motors and electronics, and diversity has to play an even   
   greater role in that,” he said at a conference sponsored by the civil   
   rights group Rainbow PUSH Coalition.   
      
   Other media also reported on Farley’s 40% figure. “Ford Motor is   
   attempting to build as many of its own parts as possible for its electric   
   vehicles to offset an expected 40% reduction in workers needed to build   
   such cars and trucks, CEO Jim Farley said Tuesday,” CNBC reported on Nov.   
   15.   
      
       CNBC, Nov. 15, 2022: In addition to making sense for the business, he   
   said retaining the jobs and workforce is another reason Ford wants to   
   build more parts in-house rather than purchasing them from suppliers.   
      
       He said Ford plans to build such businesses rather than acquire them.   
   For its increasingly popular Mustang Mach-E crossover, the company   
   purchased motors and batteries. Going forward, Farley said that will no   
   longer be the case.   
      
   In 2021, Ford announced an $11.4 billion investment in facilities in   
   Kentucky and Tennessee to build EV batteries and vehicles. The company   
   said the plants would create 11,000 jobs. Earlier this year, Ford   
   announced an EV battery plant in Michigan, but it paused construction last   
   week while the company and the UAW negotiate a contract. Union   
   representation among these new battery plant workers has been a point of   
   contention between the UAW and the automakers.   
      
   In remarks on Sept. 29 on the contract talks, Farley said: “None of our   
   workers today are going to lose their jobs due to our battery plants   
   during this contract period and even beyond the contract. In fact, for the   
   foreseeable future we will have to hire more workers as some workers   
   retire, in order to keep up with demand.”   
      
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
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