Enemies of Energy: Electric vehicles and emissions

Editor’s note: The following is an excerpt from the “Myths and Misconceptions” section of Enemies of Energy, a research report created for the Capital Research Center. The page for the full report is here: Enemies of Energy.

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Another major recipient of federal subsidies has been the electric vehicle (EV) market. Just one of these, a $7,500 consumer tax credit for the purchase of EVs, was created in 2008 and lasted for the next 17 years until Congress and the Trump administration killed it off in 2025. ^[i]

The assumption promoted by politicians and anti-energy NGOs to justify these payoffs is that EVs produce no greenhouse gas emissions because rather than running on gasoline or diesel they use … electricity.

But electricity is a mere carrier of energy, not a source. And according to the U.S. Department of Energy, 78 percent of American electricity is still generated with hydrocarbons and nuclear fuels. ^[ii]

Each electric vehicle charging up in America is more likely to be powered by coal, natural gas, or petroleum (60 percent of total electricity generation fuels) than it is to run on wind or solar (14 percent of total electricity fuels). Coal alone still accounts for 16 percent of total electricity production.^[iii]

So, after 17 years of taxpayer support, many EVs are literally coal-powered cars.

While that’s an ironic outcome, it is not a major one because nearly two decades of EV subsidies didn’t lead to many EV buyers. The market share for American EV purchases did not break above 10 percent until the final year of the program—last year—and then only because the subsidy had been killed off, which led to the last holdout buyers cashing in before the subsidies expired. ^[iv]

Ford Motor Company is emblematic of the EV disaster. In December 2025, Ford announced it was shifting away from the EV market to focus on gasoline engines and gas-electric hybrids. According to a Wall Street Journal report, Ford had lost “$13 billion on its EV business since 2023” and was taking an additional write down of $19.5 billion, for a total EV red ink bath of $32.5 billion. The report noted smaller losses and similar pivots away from EVs by General Motors. ^[v]

Putting the Ford debacle in concrete terms, energy journalist Robert Bryce kept tabs in real-time on the EV deficits as a share of each EV sold. In Q2 of 2023, he reported $72,762 was lost for each EV Ford dealers moved out the door. (When the red ink exceeds the total price of most new vehicles, perhaps “sold” is a misleading term?) For Q3 of 2024, Bryce calculated the deficit was down to a mere $58,391 per EV. On and on it went, with quarterly losses always at or exceeding $40,000 per vehicle.^[vi][vii]

In June 2022, Ford CEO Jim Farley boasted that he didn’t need to advertise the F-150 Lightning EV pickup because the truck would sell itself. By December 2025, the Wall Street Journal was reporting that Ford would “stop making an EV version of its F-150 pickup truck, called the Lightning.” ^{[viii] [ix]}

PDF hyperlink to full report

Endnotes

[i] Schwab, Grant. “Marked by Success and Controversy, EV Tax Credit Ends After a 17-Year Run.” The Detroit News. September 29, 2025. Accessed January 6, 2026. https://www.detroitnews.com/story/business/autos/2025/09/29/marked-by-success-controversy-ev-tax-credit-ends-after-a-17-year-run/86331734007/

[ii] “Electricity Explained.” Energy Information Agency. U.S. Department of Energy. Accessed January 5, 2026. https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/electricity/

[iii] “Electricity Explained.” Energy Information Agency. U.S. Department of Energy. Accessed January 5, 2026. https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/electricity/

[iv] Schwab, Grant. “Marked by Success and Controversy, EV Tax Credit Ends After a 17-Year Run.” The Detroit News. September 29, 2025. Accessed January 6, 2026. https://www.detroitnews.com/story/business/autos/2025/09/29/marked-by-success-controversy-ev-tax-credit-ends-after-a-17-year-run/86331734007/

[v] Terlep, Sharon. “Ford Takes $19.5 Billion Hit in Detroit’s Biggest EV Bust.” Wall Street Journal. December 15, 2025. Accessed January 6, 2026. https://www.wsj.com/business/autos/ford-takes-19-5-billion-charge-to-write-down-ev-investments-333a9bc4?mod=Searchresults&pos=2&page=1

[vi] Bryce, Robert. “Unplugged: Ford Lost $72,762 For Every EV It Sold In Q2.” Robert Bryce (Substack). July 27, 2023. Accessed January 6, 2026. https://robertbryce.substack.com/p/unplugged-ford-lost-72762-for-every

[vii] Bryce, Robert. “Ford Lost Another $1.2 Billion in 3Q On EVs.” Robert Bryce (Substack). October 28, 2024. Accessed January 6, 2026. https://robertbryce.substack.com/p/ford-lost-another-12-billion-in-3q

[viii] “Ford’s CEO Sees EVs Helping Carmaker Pare Its $3 Billion Ad Budget.” Bloomberg. June 1, 2022. Accessed January 6, 2026. https://www.macheforum.com/site/threads/farley-ford-to-stop-traditional-advertising-for-mach-e-lightning-ev.18326/

[ix] Terlep, Sharon. “Ford Takes $19.5 Billion Hit in Detroit’s Biggest EV Bust.” Wall Street Journal. December 15, 2025. Accessed January 6, 2026. https://www.wsj.com/business/autos/ford-takes-19-5-billion-charge-to-write-down-ev-investments-333a9bc4?mod=Searchresults&pos=2&page=1

Source: https://capitalresearch.org/article/enemies-of-energy-electric-vehicles-and-emissions/