5
The US industry seems to be driven by short sighted dipshits. Wait, can I go again? The US seems to be driven by short sighted dipshits.
Typical short term US corporate thinking and they know the EV will replace the internal combustion engine.
It's so stupid. Like Chevy releasing an updated version of the Bolt, only to immediately turn around and announce that they're shit-canning it. It's a decent electric commuter car that starts just over $30k, exactly the kind of car the market needs more of right now, and they're killing it so they can make more ICE vehicles. Stupid.
Because a Silverado costs less to make, and they can sell for 3 times the price.
Can they though? I mean, they have been able to sell relatively high priced Silverados for a while now, but I think the demand for a $60k+ pickup is waning. And I think that's especially true now that gas and diesel prices are skyrocketing. If the Fed ends up having to raise rates to combat inflation, the payment on a truck like that will become absolutely insane. You know, moreso than it already has been. Even If people still want to have a stupid expensive pickup truck, more and more of them are just not going to be able to afford it.
That's why I think smaller pickups like the Ford Maverick will become more popular. Ford sold 30% more Mavericks in 2025 than they did in 2024. If even one of these stupid companies would release a smaller, affordable electric pickup truck I think it would sell relatively well.
The Maverick isn’t a pickup though. It has a bed but it’s more like an El Camino. Its chassis isn’t separate from the frame, it has a unibody.
The Maverick isn’t a pickup though.
Ok, what should I call it?
If anything it's an "ute".
An? How do you pronounce ute?
"These yoots-"
"Hwat?"
"These yoots."
"Hwat's a yoot?"
"Oh, I'm sorry your honor, these unibody crossover vehicles with an open bed."
Something like that, I imagine. It might get confused with youths if you're discussing them in NYC.
I find it hard to believe that a Silverado costs less to make than a Bolt. Where’d you hear that?
I don’t know that they cost less but they are a much higher profit margin vehicle.
To release a new Silverado, their r&d is tweaking the body panels slightly, building new headlights, new graphics in the telematics, and changing the stitching on the leather seats. Every so often they tweak the engine and it gets another 25hp. It’s a body on frame pickup, and the frame doesn’t need meaningful changes, and they sell millions of them due to decades of marketing telling people they need a manly pickup truck to buy groceries 10 miles of paved road away. Dealers just need to stock them and they sell themselves. A base WT spec is something like USD30k but you can option with leather and toys up into the range of USD100k. Is it really an entire BMW 3 series worth of leather? Reality is the profits are enormous.
To release an EV, they need a ground up unibody design (they don’t really have cars anymore that aren’t rebadged), a battery design, a motor design, and all the software to go with it, and they’ve been selling thousands of them. They need to spend tons of money educating dealers about EVs, convincing dealers to put in expensive charging infrastructure and training mechanics to work on them (and remember dealers get profits from services not sales and EVs don’t need nearly the same service). And that’s before marketing costs.
So the development costs spread over the cost per vehicle sold are dramatically higher. A smart leadership sees that as the cost of staying current. An MBA with eyes on quarterly results sees it as a problem.
they need a ground up unibody design
Yes, but they've already done this. The Hummer, Silverado, and Sierra are all built on the same platform.
They need to spend tons of money educating dealers about EVs
They really don't, they can sell them direct, just like all the other EV OEMs.
convincing dealers to put in expensive charging infrastructure
Again, no they don't. The infrastructure is already there, just like it is in your home. They just need to install a few EVSEs.
I think you’ve missed the point. To be clear, this is all essential investments they need to be making, but it’s cost.
Yes, but they've already done this. The Hummer, Silverado, and Sierra are all built on the same platform.
A new dedicated platform that cost a lot to develop, which is to be amortized across a limited number of vehicles whereas the existing gas models have been using small incremental improvements over the course of decades, bringing the cost per vehicle to a very low level.
They really don't, they can sell them direct, just like all the other EV OEMs.
They have billions of dollars tied up in their distribution network and there are existing legal agreements with dealers - they can’t just tear them up. They cannot arbitrarily sell directly to customers. Additionally, there is considerable value - albeit unrealized - in having the dealer network.
Again, no they don't. The infrastructure is already there, just like it is in your home. They just need to install a few EVSEs.
They arguably need DC fast charging infrastructure for servicing and delivery, as well as demonstration for the EV averse. For example, some services need the battery to be at a certain levels, and they can’t reasonably hand a vehicle to a customer with 25% charge. Many dealers already have fuel tanks on site for delivery and service purposes similar to this.
I think you've missed the point.
A new dedicated platform that cost a lot to develop.
As I just said in the comment you just replied to, it's already developed.
They cannot arbitrarily sell directly to customers.
They absolutely can. Just like Tesla, Rivian, Lucid, etc.
They arguably need DC fast charging infrastructure for servicing and delivery
No they don't. Just like they don't need to own gas stations.
this post was submitted on 21 Mar 2026
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