I’ve been a reader of Car and Driver for nearly as long as I’ve been able to read. (Let’s call it 40 years, give or take.) Long enough, at any rate, to have watched the electric vehicle revolution play out in the magazine’s pages, from a big 2009 feature on four early battery-powered vehicles to glowing reviews of cutting-edge models like the Tesla Model X and the Rivian R1T. But a couple of years ago I started to notice something strange. E.V. technology was obviously getting better — ditto the cars themselves — yet sales in the United States were stagnating, especially compared with the widespread rate of adoption throughout the rest of the globe. The so-called Big Three (GM, Ford and Stellantis), meanwhile, were being completely outpaced by Chinese rivals, chief among them BYD, which recently became the largest E.V. manufacturer in the world. What the heck was happening? My article for the magazine today is an attempt to find out. The peculiar challenges of building an E.V. industry in the U.S. combined with a whipsawing federal policy have made it hard for Detroit to plan ahead, which has resulted in a rash of cancellations and factory closures. As one expert told me, the timing could hardly be worse: For decades, Detroit’s shares in the domestic and global car market have been shrinking. In order to reverse that trend, the Big Three will have to figure out how to craft a viable E.V. strategy — and fast. Read the story here. Stay in touch: Like this email? Forward it to a friend and help us grow. Loved a story? Hated it? Write us a letter at magazine@nytimes.com. Did a friend forward this to you? Sign up here to get the magazine newsletter.
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