When the rubber burns up on the road and you have to replace your tires...

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DAILY ENERGY NEWS | 02/07/2024

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Americans have spoken. They want the cars and trucks that are right for their families, not the ones in Team Biden's green dreams...

Daily Caller (2/6/24) reports: "One of the largest investment banks in the U.S. published new market research on Tuesday that calls the Biden administration’s ambitious electric vehicle (EV) targets into question. Morgan Stanley released market research that projects the role that EVs will play in the global and American automobile markets over the coming years. The bank is forecasting that legacy American manufacturers will see EVs make up about 10% of their sales by 2030, and that the legacy manufacturers and EV-focused producers like Tesla will bring the share of EV sales up to about 25% in the U.S. by 2030. These projections are far below the thresholds that the EV adoption numbers that the administration is pursuing. The White House’s stated target for 2030 is to have EVs constitute 50% of all new car sales by 2030, and proposed tailpipe emissions regulations from the Environmental Protection Agency would effectively require two-thirds of all light-duty vehicles sold after model year 2032 to be EVs...Beyond the higher price tag, there are several other issues that may be responsible for the fact that EV demand is not taking off as policymakers or industry executives may have initially expected. Other issues include inconsistent charger performance and distribution, battery range anxiety and poor performance in inclement weather conditions."

"Renewable energy is not a low-cost substitute for fossil fuels. Renewables are not cheap, nor can they provide the reliability that modern societies expect and on which they depend...There is still time to heed Britain’s warning and instead choose the path of energy abundance and economic prosperity by developing America’s unsurpassed reserves of coal, oil, and natural gas."

– Andy Puzder, National Review

The hard hitting journalists at the New York Times are pondering why there isn't a greater consumer demand for a truck that can't haul or tow anything farther than 10 miles.

New York Times (2/7/24) reports: " In July Michael Puglia drove home with what seemed like the coolest vehicle he'd ever own- a a Ford F-150 lightning pickup truck. It was big enough to haul around his children and all their gear. He'd never have to gas it up, and the ride was exhilarating. 'It’s unbelievably fast and responsive,' said Mr. Puglia, a pediatric anesthesiologist in Ann Arbor, Mich. 'The technology is amazing.' But as cooler weather arrived, the truck’s range — or how far it could travel before needing to be plugged in — dropped significantly. Once, after Mr. Puglia had driven 35 miles to an ice rink, his range fell by 73 miles. Another time, a 60-mile jaunt reduced his range by 110 miles. Several trips to the dealership for software updates didn’t fix the problem, leaving Mr. Puglia wondering whether he should keep the $79,000 truck. 'People say ‘range anxiety’ — it’s like it’s the driver’s fault,' he said. 'But it’s not our fault. It’s actually they're not telling us what the real range is. The truck says it’s 300 miles. I don’t think I’ve ever gotten that.'...It's not just Ford. Pickup trucks have been a particluarly disappointing segment of the electric vehicle market. Rivian sold about 17,700 of its R1T pickup last year, the same as in 2022, according to Cox Automotive. Tesla and G.M. introduced electric pickups last year — the Cybertruck and a Chevrolet Silverado — but have produced and sold very few so far. A big part of the problem, owners and analysts said, is that despite having fantastic technology and acceleration, electric pickups suffer sharply reduced range when drivers use them for the kinds of things people buy trucks for: to haul heavy stuff, tow trailers and drive in nasty weather."

If Ford is losing $47,000 per EV, I wonder how much they are tacking on to the cost of the cars and trucks that work?

Reuters (2/6/24) reports: "Ford Motor, opens new tab shares jumped on Tuesday after the automaker said it will return more cash to shareholders, starting with an extra 18 cents-per-share dividend in the first quarter, joining General Motors, opens new tab in giving investors more of the cash spinning from North American combustion trucks. Ford forecast $10 billion to $12 billion in pretax profit for 2024, after earning $10.4 billion before taxes last year. Profit from Ford's Pro commercial vehicle business and Ford Blue combustion vehicle units offset steep losses from Model E electric vehicle operations. Ford is slowing investment in new EV capacity to match slower demand following a seismic change in EV pricing over the past year, Ford executives told analysts. The next generation of Ford EVs will be launched 'only when they can be profitable,' Marin Gjaja, head of the Model E EV business, told analysts Tuesday...Ford's electric vehicle operations will continue to be a cash drain this year. Model E lost an average of more than $47,000 per vehicle in the fourth quarter, Ford reported. The company projected a wider pretax loss of between $5 billion and $5.5 billion this year."

I wonder if the new Special Envoy, Don Vito Podesta, is also going to say that slavery in China is not in his lane.

Oil Price (2/6/24) reports: "China was single-handedly responsible for 96% of global coal power capacity construction last year, cementing its position as the biggest coal builder in the world. Per data, released by Global Energy Monitor and reported by Bloomberg, China last year also accounted for 68% of new coal generation capacity that came online last year and 81% of newly planned coal generation projects. China’s attitude to coal has been hard to swallow for Europe and other transition advocates but Beijing has made a point of explaining that on its list of priorities, energy security comes before energy transition. Besides, officials have said that most of the new coal capacity will operate as backup for wind and solar, which cannot generate electricity round the clock, unlike coal power plants. Meanwhile, coal production in China hit a record last year, at 4.66 billion metric tons, which was 2.9% higher than output in 2022, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed last month."

Energy Markets

WTI Crude Oil: ↑ $73.60
Natural Gas: ↓ $1.98
Gasoline: ↑ $3.14

Diesel: ↑ $3.94
Heating Oil: ↑ $278.08
Brent Crude Oil: ↑ $78.88
US Rig Count: ↑ 656

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