As gasoline prices continue to plunge, so do the sales of expensive, taxpayer-subsidized EVs.
FMC Corporation (NYSE: FMC) announced today it plans to increase its production capacity of lithium hydroxide by a total of 20,000 metric tons per year, tripling its production. The company is betting that there will be strong demand for its battery-grade lithium hydroxide caused by “rapid growth of electric vehicle sales.”
Growing use of hybrids are a possible justification, but the bet just isn’t reflected in the actual sales numbers of hybrids and EVs . They remain less than 4% of U.S. vehicle sales in total.
While the average energy efficiency of EVs is improving, gasoline and diesel vehicles are increasingly more efficient, which also reduces fossil fuel consumption and lowers emissions, too. This means that consumers still show a strong preference for far less costly conventional vehicles.
Year-to-date with a state of the art hybrid, the Chevrolet Volt has sold 6000 units. The comparably sized Chevrolet Cruze sold 14,000. Production of the Cadillac ELR – a version of the Cruze on sale since 2014 – ended a few months ago and only about 100 units remain on dealer lots, Automotive News reports.
No wonder FMC is hedging: “Our phased expansion approach allows FMC to execute annual and multi-year sales contracts for each increment prior to commissioning,” said Tom Schneberger, vice president and global business director, FMC Lithium.
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