We warned repeatedly during the Biden years that the auto industry was sowing the seeds of its own destruction by getting hooked on $10s of billions of taxpayer subsidies for electric vehicles. These included a $7,500 tax credit to entice people to buy an EV, manufacturing subsidies, and free charging stations.

The big three auto firms got suckered into just what we counseled against – building cars for the politicians, not the car buyers.

So we weren’t surprised by this WSJ headline on Tuesday:

The WSJ chart below shows that EV sales fell by half once the tax credit expired last year. Sales have fallen to their lowest level in four years. Over the past six months Ford, GM, and Stellantis all lost money thanks to over-investment in EVs. The unsold cars are now piling up on the dealer lots.

It’s a good bet that the U.S. EV industry would be much more viable if the government had just stayed out of it. Corporate welfare almost never works.