The push into electric vehicles was always bullshit, sold by the left as the move that would future-proof America’s and Europe’s legacy automakers and save the planet – and anyone not buying it was subject to a guilt trip from smug, private-jet-owning elitists. Instead, EVs are now looking like one of the costliest strategic blunders in modern automotive history. Major U.S. and European brands – including Ford, General Motors, Stellantis, Mercedes-Benz, and Volkswagen – have collectively burned through nearly a staggering $114 billion on EV ventures between 2022 and late 2025, according to an analysis by Robert Bryce in the The New York Post.
Ford, Lucid, and Rivian report EV losses directly in their SEC filings, while GM, Stellantis, Mercedes, and Volkswagen do not break out EV performance, forcing analysts to rely on conservative estimates drawn from earnings results, write-downs, and public guidance. Among traditional automakers, Ford stands alone in providing clear EV-specific financial reporting, Bryce reports.
Between 2022 and the third quarter of 2025, legacy automakers alone are estimated to have lost roughly $83.6 billion on EV programs, including major write-downs at Ford and GM. EV-only startups Lucid and Rivian account for another $30.2 billion in red ink, with total losses across seven automakers approach $114 billion. The newspaper said it excluded Tesla from their analysis because a significant portion of its profits comes from regulatory credit sales and non-auto businesses.