The market chose ICE vehicles over electric and steam at the turn of the last century, without government mandates to do so. By and large, the populous was uninformed about the effects of hydrocarbons in the atmosphere, as we are now. Fast forward a century and a quarter, our collective desire to generally be good stewards of the planet's resources, is creating a demand for cleaner transportation. We as a global society have trillions of dollars invested in ICE vehicle manufacture and petroleum refining. As generally good people, we'll get there, but at the market's pace, not by government decree.
There is a granite shield stretching from Manitoba, Canada through central Minnesota from volcano eruptions a billion years ago. Mastadon tracks with those of humans in New Mexico, evidence of tropical plants in ice core samples in Antarctica. Things are always changing. And if we reach the theoretical tipping point where the planet goes into runaway temperature rising, as good stewards we'll figure it out, driven by the marketplace at such a time. We just need to not get ahead of ourselves.
Automotive is still 100% capitalism. Manufacturers are still privately owned and still decide what to make and sell - within regulations. Anyone can start a new company like Rivian and Lucid and compete with the existing players.
My neighbor thinks billionaires are hoarding money and causing others to be poor which is ridiculous. My home and my retirement investments have doubled in value the last 7 years. That didn't take money out of anyone else's pocket.
Except It doesn't mean what you believe which is that nobody wants EVs. It means nobody wanted 100% EVs. There is a large percentage of the population who do want and are buying EVs and that will continue to grow as EVs get better and cheaper. They're not going away.
The problem is Ford and GM listened to and believed everything King Biden told them: You will build only EV's and the consumer will be ordered to buy them! Sounded like socialism.
Yea, many sectors of the U.S. economy including automotive are further away from true capitalism than the same sectors in the EU because of regulatory capture. @Biker16 has discussed the issue on this site.
My neighbor is a very liberal hippie type who sells pottery. We just don't talk politics. At our local artisan craft show I was walking over to chat with her during a slow period and I heard her tell another lady that she just doesn't think capitalism is sustainable. I just did a 180 and went back to my table biting my tongue. It was ironic since she's retired with a corporate pension and sells her pottery on the open market.