By Nate Rattner, Terell Wright and Sharon Terlep

U.S. automakers have been pumping the brakes on their electric-vehicle businesses for months, and the costs are piling up.

Following years of investments into EV technology, the Detroit Big Three -- General Motors, Ford Motor and Jeep-maker Stellantis have announced more than $50 billion in combined write-downs.

EV sales fell nearly 30% last year, even with a $7,500 federal tax credit juicing U.S. sales through September. Demand cratered for the highest-profile EVs, from Tesla's Cybertruck to Ford's much-hyped electric pickup. Automakers expect demand to remain muted.

GM, which is forging ahead with much of its EV strategy, albeit at a smaller scale, didn't have as much to cancel and write down. The company, for instance, still aims to build big EV trucks. Ford, meanwhile, is changing course.

"Instead of plowing billions into the future knowing these large EVs will never make money, we are pivoting," Ford Chief Executive Jim Farley has said. Ford now says it will make one low-cost EV pickup by 2027.

Automakers' retreats and massive write-downs have come as Republican lawmakers abolished a lucrative federal tax credit for EVs last fall, while also doing away with federal fuel-efficiency mandates. Even with federal support, EV demand was below expectations.

Now, auto companies and battery makers are scaling back. After pouring hundreds of billions of dollars into U.S. manufacturing, they are downsizing investments, canceling projects and pivoting plants to support making more traditional gas-powered vehicles.

The net effect of all the cancellations: More than $20 billion in previously announced investments in EV and battery facilities were wiped out last year, according to Atlas Public Policy, which tracks clean-economy investments. That drove the first net annual decrease in announced investments in years.

GM laid off thousands of workers at plants across Michigan, Ohio and Tennessee and has blown up plans for factories to make EV trucks and motors. Instead, those plants will build gas-powered trucks and V-8 engines. Ford dissolved a joint venture with a South Korean conglomerate to make EV batteries in America. Stellantis is unloading its stake in a battery-making business.

When Stellantis booked the largest charge taken by any automaker related to electric-vehicle bets so far, Chief Executive Antonio Filosa said the pace of the energy transition had been overestimated and "distanced us from many car buyers' real-world needs, means and desires."

Outside of the U.S., EV markets are still growing. China's BYD recently replaced Tesla as the world's biggest EV seller, even though some countries have put tariffs on Chinese EVs.

BYD delivered more than one million vehicles outside of China last year -- double what it delivered in 2024. But at home, its sales growth slowed amid steeper competition and a reduction in state subsidies for affordable vehicles.

Write to Nate Rattner at nate.rattner@wsj.com, Terell Wright at terell.wright@wsj.com and Sharon Terlep at sharon.terlep@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

U.S. electric-vehicle sales fell more than 30% in the fourth quarter of 2025. "Detroit Automakers Take $50 Billion Hit as EV Bubble Bursts," at 9 p.m. ET, incorrectly said that EV sales declined nearly 30% for the full year.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 12, 2026 22:09 ET (03:09 GMT)

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