Several automakers are pulling back on plans to expand the amount of electric vehicles they produce in response to slowing sales that aren’t expected to hit previous forecasts.
At the same time, more models are coming to market and overall sales continue to grow year after year.
That’s why there’s a mix of both optimism and pessimism surrounding the EV sector and the eventual transition away from gasoline and diesel vehicles.
The state of the EV market is a focus at this year’s CERAWeek by S&P Global in Houston, one of the world’s largest energy summits. The electrification of vehicles could diminish demand for oil around the globe — and also result in big business for power producers.
“EVs, they are a terrific piece of technology,” said Chevron chief executive Mike Wirth, while on stage at the event. “They work for some customers, but not for all, and we’re seeing that in consumer behaviour and choices today.”
Automakers themselves are striking a different tone as they recognize a change in appetite from customers.
A Chevrolet Bolt is displayed at the Philadelphia Auto Show in January 2023. Sales of electric vehicles are still growing rapidly compared with the broader car market. (Matt Rourke/The Associated Press)
Over the last year, Nissan and Stellantis were among the companies pledging to be fully electric in Europe by 2030. At the same time, dealers have slashed prices to incentivize sales, while lowering their EV targets and even scrapping some plans to co-develop new models.
“Sales are still growing, but the rate of growth is what’s slowing down,” said Amy Stanley, an executive with Toyota North America, in an interview with CBC News.
Fuelling some of the growth this year is the abundance of new battery-powered models making their way to dealer lots, including more SUVs, which are more popular than cars in Canada and the U.S. For Toyota, sales of SUVs of all types are more than double that of cars.
WATCH | The struggle to locate EV charging stations:
Electric vehicle owners struggle to find charging stations
3 months ago
Duration 2:06
Canadians are buying electric vehicles in record numbers, but there are concerns that infrastructure is not keeping up with demand. Some EV owners say they’re finding that many buildings aren’t properly equipped with charging stations.
Charging a top concern
Customers used to worry primarily about the limited range of EVs, but a top concern now is charging. That includes not only the amount of public charging infrastructure available, but also the ease of using charging stations.
The amount of time an EV charger is functioning properly is known as “uptime” and it’s becoming a point of emphasis within the industry.
“There’s certainly some examination happening in the U.S. about should there be some regulation about uptime reliability to make the charging network at least comparable to the gasoline network in terms of what customers can expect,” said Stanley.
The charging problem extends beyond the physical presence of stations — it’s also about how drivers can locate them where they do exist.
There needs to be more data about charging stations that’s easily accessible, says Elaine Buckberg, a senior fellow of the Salata Institute for Climate and Sustainability at Harvard University. (Kyle Bakx/CBC)
During a recent trip from Michigan to Massachusetts as part of a move, Elaine Buckberg was using multiple different apps on her phone to locate charging stations and find out if they were functioning. She felt like she was using as much concentration as her husband was while driving.
They made it through the road trip, but had to overnight in Cleveland after visiting four different charging stations only to find that none of them worked.
So Buckberg, a senior fellow of the Salata Institute for Climate and Sustainability at Harvard University, knows better than most the need for an organized directory to help locate charging stations, along with other information such as whether they’re functional and what type of charge they provide.
“We have estimated actually that only about one-third of the chargers along major highways have this kind of data available in a central location,” she said, while on stage at CERAWeek.
Changing customer base
Ford says its EV sales shot up 80 per cent last year and are expected to grow about 30 per cent this year.
Senior director Deane Millison describes how the customer base for EVs continues to change as there was an initial wave of early adopters interested in the technology and connectivity and appreciated the environmental benefits.
If automakers want to survive, Deanne Millison, a senior director with Ford, says they’ll need to understand the transition to EVs. (Kyle Bakx/CBC)
Now, a lot more people are thinking about EVs, said Millison, but they need more education and more understanding before they make the purchase.
“The EV demand is going up,” she said, in an interview. “If we want to be in the future in the automaking business, we need to make EVs. We need to understand this transition.”
Still, Millison says it’s all about choice and providing an assortment of vehicles to suit different customer lifestyles and preferences.
That’s why she says dealer lots will still feature gas powered vehicles alongside plug-in hybrids and EVs for for years to come.
WATCH | Crunching the numbers on electric vs. gas powered vehicles:
What’s cheaper, EV or gas? This scholar crunched the numbers
5 days ago
Duration 2:05
Where you live and how much you drive each day matters when it comes to the cost-effectiveness of an electric vehicle, compared to gas. A new UBC study crunches the numbers.
TOKYO (AP) — Japanese technology group SoftBank swung back to profitability in the July-September quarter, boosted by positive results in its Vision Fund investments.
Tokyo-based SoftBank Group Corp. reported Tuesday a fiscal second quarter profit of nearly 1.18 trillion yen ($7.7 billion), compared with a 931 billion yen loss in the year-earlier period.
Quarterly sales edged up about 6% to nearly 1.77 trillion yen ($11.5 billion).
SoftBank credited income from royalties and licensing related to its holdings in Arm, a computer chip-designing company, whose business spans smartphones, data centers, networking equipment, automotive, consumer electronic devices, and AI applications.
The results were also helped by the absence of losses related to SoftBank’s investment in office-space sharing venture WeWork, which hit the previous fiscal year.
WeWork, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2023, emerged from Chapter 11 in June.
SoftBank has benefitted in recent months from rising share prices in some investment, such as U.S.-based e-commerce company Coupang, Chinese mobility provider DiDi Global and Bytedance, the Chinese developer of TikTok.
SoftBank’s financial results tend to swing wildly, partly because of its sprawling investment portfolio that includes search engine Yahoo, Chinese retailer Alibaba, and artificial intelligence company Nvidia.
SoftBank makes investments in a variety of companies that it groups together in a series of Vision Funds.
The company’s founder, Masayoshi Son, is a pioneer in technology investment in Japan. SoftBank Group does not give earnings forecasts.
Shopify Inc. executives brushed off concerns that incoming U.S. President Donald Trump will be a major detriment to many of the company’s merchants.
“There’s nothing in what we’ve heard from Trump, nor would there have been anything from (Democratic candidate) Kamala (Harris), which we think impacts the overall state of new business formation and entrepreneurship,” Shopify’s chief financial officer Jeff Hoffmeister told analysts on a call Tuesday.
“We still feel really good about all the merchants out there, all the entrepreneurs that want to start new businesses and that’s obviously not going to change with the administration.”
Hoffmeister’s comments come a week after Trump, a Republican businessman, trounced Harris in an election that will soon return him to the Oval Office.
On the campaign trail, he threatened to impose tariffs of 60 per cent on imports from China and roughly 10 per cent to 20 per cent on goods from all other countries.
If the president-elect makes good on the promise, many worry the cost of operating will soar for companies, including customers of Shopify, which sells e-commerce software to small businesses but also brands as big as Kylie Cosmetics and Victoria’s Secret.
These merchants may feel they have no choice but to pass on the increases to customers, perhaps sparking more inflation.
If Trump’s tariffs do come to fruition, Shopify’s president Harley Finkelstein pointed out China is “not a huge area” for Shopify.
However, “we can’t anticipate what every presidential administration is going to do,” he cautioned.
He likened the uncertainty facing the business community to the COVID-19 pandemic where Shopify had to help companies migrate online.
“Our job is no matter what comes the way of our merchants, we provide them with tools and service and support for them to navigate it really well,” he said.
Finkelstein was questioned about the forthcoming U.S. leadership change on a call meant to delve into Shopify’s latest earnings, which sent shares soaring 27 per cent to $158.63 shortly after Tuesday’s market open.
The Ottawa-based company, which keeps its books in U.S. dollars, reported US$828 million in net income for its third quarter, up from US$718 million in the same quarter last year, as its revenue rose 26 per cent.
Revenue for the period ended Sept. 30 totalled US$2.16 billion, up from US$1.71 billion a year earlier.
Subscription solutions revenue reached US$610 million, up from US$486 million in the same quarter last year.
Merchant solutions revenue amounted to US$1.55 billion, up from US$1.23 billion.
Shopify’s net income excluding the impact of equity investments totalled US$344 million for the quarter, up from US$173 million in the same quarter last year.
Daniel Chan, a TD Cowen analyst, said the results show Shopify has a leadership position in the e-commerce world and “a continued ability to gain market share.”
In its outlook for its fourth quarter of 2024, the company said it expects revenue to grow at a mid-to-high-twenties percentage rate on a year-over-year basis.
“Q4 guidance suggests Shopify will finish the year strong, with better-than-expected revenue growth and operating margin,” Chan pointed out in a note to investors.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2024.
TORONTO – RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust says it has cut almost 10 per cent of its staff as it deals with a slowdown in the condo market and overall pushes for greater efficiency.
The company says the cuts, which amount to around 60 employees based on its last annual filing, will mean about $9 million in restructuring charges and should translate to about $8 million in annualized cash savings.
The job cuts come as RioCan and others scale back condo development plans as the market softens, but chief executive Jonathan Gitlin says the reductions were from a companywide efficiency effort.
RioCan says it doesn’t plan to start any new construction of mixed-use properties this year and well into 2025 as it adjusts to the shifting market demand.
The company reported a net income of $96.9 million in the third quarter, up from a loss of $73.5 million last year, as it saw a $159 million boost from a favourable change in the fair value of investment properties.
RioCan reported what it says is a record-breaking 97.8 per cent occupancy rate in the quarter including retail committed occupancy of 98.6 per cent.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2024.
