I could have attached this to the EV thread, since most of these are being ditched so that manufacturers can "retool" for electric vehicle models. I hope Trump's policies on fossil fuels will put an end to some of the nonsense. Discontinued Models 2025 Volvo S60 Subaru Legacy Dodge Ram 1500 Classic Nissan Titan Nissan GT-R Mini Clubman Mitsubishi Mirage Jaguar F-Type Infiniti Q50 Ford Escape Ford Edge Chevrolet Malibu Chevrolet Camaro Cadillac XT4 (I just bought one of these--was told it is Cadillac's 2nd best seller. Yeah, makes perfect sense.) Audi A60 Models Discontinued For 2026 Nissan Altima Nissan Versa Porsche 718 Boxster Porsche 718 Cayman Porsche Macan (gas-powered) Nissan seems to be taking hits on models that I always considered fairly popular vehicles (Titan, Altima, Versa). But what do I know.
Get rid of the Federal subsidies. As Kennedy said, get rid of the corruption and the agency implodes on itself.
Now there's an idea! I was reading on the Cadillac Forum that GM offers a $1500 subsidy to EV buyers to have a charging plug installed at your house. We all know that GM isn't paying that subsidy.
Volts were (are?) leasing in Colorado for $29/month because of subsidies. It's like someone paying you to drive.
Hah. Did you know that there is a "lease pass-through provision" that allows the $7500 Federal subsidy even for models that have already reclaimed the maximum number of those tax credits on sales? Ahh, leasing. The short-sighted nuttiness that says "I want more car than I can afford, to the Devil with how it hurts me financially." Yeah, let's encourage that nonsense.
Honestly, leasing might be the smartest way to go with the new "computers on wheels" that will be obsolete or cost a fortune to keep updated in a few years.
If they had that cheap Volt leasing here in Alabama, like @John Brunner mentioned in Colorado, I would definitely be thinking hard about leasing one. We never drive over 5-6 miles away from home, and do not do that every day; so an electric car would make sense for us. I have been wishing for a small car for a long time, but Bobby lives the big pickup truck.
I'm not sure they do well if you let them sit a lot either. A drawback of PHEVs is you have all of the disadvantages of an HEV and an EV. A big one being a large, underslung battery pack. That means a lot of weight, and tires can quickly develop flat spots. The Volt has a record of fires in a crash, and the Bolt has an even larger and more exposed (to road hazards) battery. The bigger the traction battery, the more power wasted on battery management if it sits. They are never truly "off." There is active heating, cooling, and forced self-discharge for battery conditioning. Then you have the GM reliability record. But you cast the bones and take your choices. No ticket is a guaranteed winner.
Back to the discontinued list. I notice the 'Big 3" Japanese manufacturers Toyota, Mazda, and Honda are not listed. Wonder if they're planning to corner the gasoline engine market which could be very lucrative at least for a few years.
I have been more active on car forums recently. One thing I notice, particularly in GM vehicles, is that buyers are having to pay monthly subcription fees to companies to maintain "connectivity." I understand that having wifi in a vehicle means that a provider has to be paid, but some features of the vehicles actually don't work without a subscription of some sort. Some BMWs have heated/cooled seats and other options that simply won't work without a paid subscription. Seriously?? Also, some GM navigation systems won't work without paying for OnStar. It is possible to circumvent this by using bluetooth to connect the vehicle to a cellphone hotspot and using Apple maps or Google maps which will display on the car's NAV screen. To me this is truly a chickenshit business model. As of now, Ford has not instituted any of that "paid subscriber" thing unless an owner wants XM radio. Honestly, some of this stuff is technologically challenging. I wonder how the general public is dealing with all the technology in new cars. I see plenty of new car owners flooding the forums because they simply don't understand how all the "features" work and cannot figure things out by reading the manual. Manuals seem to have gotten more generic and don't drill down to specifics; you have to use your common sense to look through vehicle system menus, etc. There are some features on my car that will stop working when my 6 month OnStar trial ends in February so I am deciding what I will do at that point. I should have done more homework before buying this car and I am considering keeping it for a couple of years and trading... but who knows what will be available by then.
My daughter has a hybrid Mini Cooper, and it can be plugged in at home to charge, but also uses gasoline, so if she is traveling long distances, she can use the gas when she needs to. They used to have her traveling a lot when she was working here, and at night, she plugged it in at hotels where she was staying. My son has a Prius, and it does not charge at home, but uses both fuel and electric to run on. This is probably why Toyota is not on the list of discontinuing electric vehicles.
Just to clarify, those discontinued vehicles are gasoline. And hybrids are the best alternative to gas IMO... at least they give the driver a choice.
Toyota never drank the Let's Chase EV Subsidies Kool-Aid. They manage their business to meet actual market needs. Plus,they are not subject to American political pressure. Toyota is a major shareholder of Mazda (who is publicly traded.) The two companies have built a factory near Yvonne as a joint venture (COVID delayed the opening.) Toyota is among the top echelon regarding EV technology, and they have licensed their EV technology to Mazda, who are known for their engineering prowess. Mazda is taking a unique approach to EVs. You may recall Mazda's Wankel rotary engine from back in the day ("...and the Mazda goes mmmmmmm...."). Mazda has an EV that include a small gas-powered Wankel rotary generator to keep the batteries charged. It was introduced in the states this past year. It has a 13 gallon gas tank to power the generator. The version without the generator has a range short of 100 miles. There is no published range for the version with the generator. Reviews are mixed. Regarding any business cornering any market in the modern world...things are just one election away from being regulated out of existence, so there's this huge external risk from government and from activists that no one can foresee or control. Trump is taking the regulatory boot off of the neck of gas vehicles (and for the domestic petroleum industry), but the next democrat administration can (and will) put it right back on. It sucks that a country like Japan makes plans that go out decades, while our long-term horizon is 4 years because of government.
I remember we had one of those Mazda rotary engines ! It was a station wagon, and we had it for years, and it always ran great and got excellent gas mileage. We eventually gave it to my BIL, and he had it for a long time, too. I think I would like the EV one !