The Electric: In Slashing EV Production, Carmakers Jumped the Gun

In 2021, Western auto and battery companies seemed headed toward a massive convergence: As I reported at the time, major automakers said that by 2025 or 2026 they would each be selling dozens of models of electric vehicles each, many of them powered by next-generation batteries that would cut the price of the vehicles, charge fast and take the cars hundreds of miles on a charge. That would make those mid-decade years a moment of truth for EVs, a test for whether mainstream consumers—and not just wealthy, tech-mad environmentalists—would buy them over combustion cars.