News of the Cyber World

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Automakers Realize Americans Are Not Buying Electric Vehicles

A comprehensive report in the Detroit Free Press details how the latest data reveals that while the Biden administration is pushing hard for automakers to turn out EVs, car companies are unable to sell the models.

Data from Edmunds.com shows that in September 2022, for example, EVs sat on dealership lots for just 21 days before they were sold. Today, EVs are sitting on dealership lots for 65 days.

Automakers, as Breitbart News reported, are well aware of the issue. Tesla, General Motors (GM), Mercedes-Benz, and Ford have all started slow-walking their rapid EV production plans.

In September, most notably, Ford announced it would be pausing construction of a $3.5 billion EV battery plant in Marshall, Michigan. Ford drew fierce backlash from locals and lawmakers because the plant would have the automaker collaborate with China’s Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. (CATL), linked heavily to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

GM CEO Mary Barra told investors in October that the automaker is abandoning its goals to produce 400,000 EVs from 2022 through mid-2024. Similarly, GM will delay retooling its plant in Orion Township, Michigan, to build EV pickup trucks.

Meanwhile, Tesla has seen a dip in net income, which came in at $1.85 billion in the third quarter. At the same time in 2022, net income for the electric automaker was $3.29 billion. As a result, Tesla is planning to delay its production plant set for Mexico.

At Mercedes-Benz, EVs are so hard to sell that the automaker is having to effectively put them on clearance at enormously discounted prices to get them off dealership lots, according to Business Insider.

General Motors: Sorry Your EV May Have a Defective Battery, Here’s $1,400

General Motors is offering $1,400 to owners of the 2020-2022 Chevy Bolt to entice them to install a diagnostic program that will determine if their battery is defective. The move is reportedly part of an anticipated class action settlement related to the battery problems that have plagued GM’s all-electric car.

In exchange for installing diagnostics software that GM says will detect whether batteries require a full replacement, the company is offering $1,400 yo ’20-’22 Chevy Bolt owners, according to a report by Electrek.

GM was forced to recall all of its Chevy Bolts after some of the electric vehicles were found to have a battery defect from supplier LG. The company now has to take the model out of production for a number of months, and later promise battery replacements to all affected owners.

Over the summer, GM said it would stop replacing 2020-2022 Chevy Bolt Batteries and instead verify the battery’s durability with software that monitors the battery over 6,200 miles, during which time Chevy Bolt owners are only allowed to charge the batteries up to 80 percent, further limiting the range of their EVs.

Hertz Blames Profit Miss on Dismal Tesla Resale Value, Sky High Repair Costs

Bloomberg reports that Hertz, the popular car rental company, has encountered significant challenges that have caused it to miss its quarterly profit estimates. The company has been caught in the crosswinds of Tesla’s aggressive price-cutting strategies and the soaring repair costs associated with electric vehicles (EVs). Tesla has lowered its prices to boost sales, which has decreased the resale value of Hertz’s EV fleet by about one-third, according to Hertz CEO Stephen Scherr.

The repair expenses for EVs have also thrown a wrench in the gears of Hertz’s financial machinery. The costs have been almost double that of repairing traditional gasoline cars. Scherr revealed that these unexpected costs have been a significant factor affecting the company’s profits.

In response to these challenges, Hertz has decided to tap the brakes on the acquisition of new EVs. This strategic slowdown aims to allow the company to better manage and navigate through the prevailing cost-related challenges. Despite the current hurdles, Hertz remains steadfast in its commitment to electrifying its fleet. The company has ambitious plans to purchase a substantial number of EVs from automotive giants such as Tesla and General Motors. “Hertz remains committed to buying 100,000 cars from Tesla and 175,000 EVs from General Motors Co.,” affirmed Scherr.

Elon Musk: Starlink Will Provide Internet Connectivity to ‘Aid Organizations’ in Gaza

Elon Musk has said that Starlink will provide connectivity to “internationally recognized aid organizations” in the territory of Gaza, where communications have been cut amidst the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas.

Israel is intensifying its military campaign against Gaza, which began in response to an attack by Hamas militants into Israeli territory earlier this month, claiming the lives of over 1,300 civilians and leading to the capture of hundreds more.

Amid this campaign, news organizations report that communications to Gaza have been almost entirely cut off. Elon Musk has promised to restore some level of connectivity using Starlink, his satellite internet company.

“Starlink will support connectivity to internationally recognized aid organizations in Gaza,” said Musk in response to a tweet from Democrat congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), a staunch pro-Palestinian.

In the tweet Musk responded to, Rep. Ocasio-Cortez condemned Israel for cutting off communications in the first place.
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While Musk has pledged the use of Starlink services, it is unclear if there are even any Starlink terminals in the Gaza Strip, meaning it may be some time before the aid organizations referenced by Musk are able to restore connectivity.

Israel and its supporters reacted negatively to Musk’s message.

Communists Grease Palms: China’s TikTok Spends Big Bucks Lobbying Washington

ByteDance is pouring record sums of money into federal lobbying while efforts to crack down on TikTok continue to mount, according to an analysis of new lobbying disclosures by OpenSecrets.

The Chinese company spent more in federal lobbying in the first three quarters of 2023 than it did any other year to date, spending roughly $7.4 million each quarter, after only spending $4.9 million in 2022, the disclosures showed.

ByteDance, which first reported payments to federal lobbyists in 2019, has spent more than $19.9 million on lobbying to date, and now ranks thirteenth among all federal lobbying clients spending during the third quarter of 2023.

The Chinese company has even spent more in federal lobbying in the third quarter of 2023 than Silicon Valley giants like Google’s parent company Alphabet Inc., Apple, and X, formerly known as Twitter.

The company, owned by a hostile foreign country, reportedly spent more than $3.7 million on federal lobbying in the last three months alone, surpassing what it spent in the entire years of 2019 and 2020 combined.

ByteDance lobbyists have reportedly begun focusing on internet technology and machine-learning-enabled content platforms that use artificial intelligence (AI) to customize feeds based on users’ preferences.
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ByteDance lobbying has recently involved “trade issues affecting internet companies including legislation related to cross-border data transfers and legal frameworks for foreign-based applications and services.”

ByteDance lobbyists have even pushed against the bipartisan bill, Protecting Kids on Social Media Act, which seeks to ban kids under the age of 13 from using social media, and require that platforms verify the age of their users.

So why are they so interested in not verifying their users' age all of a sudden?  Highly suspicious indeed.