And then there is the truth about EV'sA few points to consider:
The transition to EV's has been a slow and bumpy road. That is what always happens with an "S" curve transition in technology.
The transition to EV's hit a tipping point a couple of years ago, but the fact has been lost on the public. The funny thing is that the tipping point occurs at 5% adoption which makes it a ho hum event to those that don't understand.
China is the world leader in auto sales. November auto sales in China were 3 million vehicles. That is a run rate of 36 million vehicles per year which is closing. In 2022, world wide auto sales were 67 million.
EV's now make up nearly 40% of new auto sales in China. In Europe, EV sales made up more than 20% of all new vehicle sales in 2022 and the adoption of EV's continues to surge.
In North America, the oil industry is very powerful which has led to an incredible amount of disinformation about EV's being put forth by the media. The common word for this is FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt).
Why would the media do that? Money.
The legacy automakers spend enormous amounts of money on advertising, while the only credible EV maker in North America doesn't advertise.
The ICE vehicle industry directly accounts for about 1 million jobs in North America and about 10 million jobs indirectly. Every job in the auto industry in North Anerica is in jeophardy because EV's are already cheaper to buy and cost 1/10 the money to run than ICE vehicles.
Other than for a small number of very specific of situations, buying a new ICE vehicle makes no sense whatsoever as the initial bottlenecks to adoption are rapidly being overcome.
The first fear was that it was crazy expensive to make batteries which made EV's impractical. Battery prices have come down 94% in the last ten year and are expected to drop another 40% within the next 3 years. High battery costs are no longer an issue despite the odd ridiculous headline. In fact, it will likely be less expensive to replace the battery for an EV than to replace an engine for an ICE vehicle in 2025. The difference is that EV batteries are guaranteed to last 8 years but in reality will last 20 years now.
Then it was the fear of there not being enough minerals to make the batteries needed. The EV leader is about to start producing batteries that contain zero rare earth minerals. In fact, the stats show that all the batteries that the earth will ever require to replace hydrocarbons will only take up 20% of the current proven mineral sources and as oil investors know, when you need more resources, the world finds a way to discover them.
Then it was a fear of not enough production capability. That was an American and European fear as China was rapidly dominating the EV market. The USA put its political system to work and believe it or not, it has actually worked for once.
Then it was a fear of charging stations for those making long trips. 96% of EV users charge at home which means charging stations as it is insanely inexpensie to do so. EV charging stations are only used for emergencies or for those travelling more than 400 to 500km. That fear is rapidly going away as Super EV chargers are popping up everywhere. On top of that, hotel chains and retailers are adding chargers. You can find EV chargers at every Canadian Tire, or Costco these days. It won't be long until all or most gas stations will have EV charging capability. You can see a map of PetroCan's EV highway here:
https://www.petro-canada.ca/en/personal/fuel/canadas-electric-highway
The press is currently blabbing about a slowdown in EV demand. Slower growth in demand in North America in 2023 is true. High interest rates have played a big role in North America with our penchant for financing cars. Interest rates have not slowed down demand in China and Europe.
Ford and GM have announced cutbacks in EV production in 2024 so surely EV demand must be weak. However, the real reason GM and Ford are cutting back EV production is because nobody wants their EV's. Ford and GM have joined the NACS EV charging system but won't be producing EV's with the new charging system until 2025. Who in their right mind would buy a Ford or GM EV in 2024 knowing they will always have to carry around and use an awkward adaptor? Would you?
When the leading EV maker introduces its US$24,000 car in a year, the auto industry is going to get turned on its head. Add in the US$7,500 credit topped up with additional credits in many States, and legacy auto makers won't be able to compete much sooner than anyone realizes.
ENB management is uncomparable imo. They have been getting it right for years and I don't see that changing. That is why we are seeing the company exit Canada and redirecting all of their CAPEX towards American natgas distribution. Some day a combination of solar energy and battery storage will replace natgas but it won't happen in my lifetime.
As an aside, I have invested heavily in ENS recently as opposed to ENB. There are a number of good reasons for doing so but this post is already really long.