Trade War Is Destroying Competitors for Ford and GM: Cheap Cars At Risk in Trade War, Foreign Brands Say

 

 

While Ford and GM get a temporary reprieve from immediate competition, the tariff-driven spike in production costs for their own imported parts is hampering their profitability, with analysts indicating that the "made-in-America" strategy is not insulating them from rising costs. Their profitability selling all those trucks and SUVs is pretty high though.

 

“Foreign-based automakers have warned the Trump administration that they are looking at pulling their cheapest car models out of the U.S. market if the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement isn't renewed or is watered down, according to people familiar with the discussions.

 

Companies such as Nissan, Hyundai and Toyota are among the few carmakers to offer U.S. consumers new models of small, affordable automobiles after Detroit-based automakers ditched such cars in recent years in favor of SUVs and trucks.

 

Cars like the Honda Civic and Toyota Corolla are made in the U.S., but rely on parts from all three North American countries. President Trump signed the USMCA in 2020 and provided tariff-free treatment to cars built largely with U.S., Mexican or Canadian parts.

 

Trump, however, has upended supply chains and cut into foreign automakers' profits with his second-term levies, which charge a 25% tariff on the non-U.S. content of vehicles that previously would have qualified as duty-free under the USMCA deal. Trump has said the levies are needed for national security, and his team has publicly considered ditching the USMCA or splitting it into two separate deals as the governments review the agreement this year.

 

White House spokesman Kush Desai said the administration's strategy to restore manufacturing includes giving "breathing room" to companies that are in the process of reshoring. He said: "While the administration continues to review USMCA, automakers who want to sell to American drivers need to come to terms with the need to reshore their manufacturing back to the United States -- and the administration is rolling out the red carpet with deregulation, tax cuts, and other pro-investment policies to support this transition."

 

But if USMCA no longer exists or a renewed version doesn't significantly reduce tariffs on cars and auto parts made in North America, some foreign carmakers might not be able to build and sell the cheaper cars for the U.S. market, the people familiar with the discussions said. That message has been communicated to Trump's economic advisers, according to the people.

 

"U.S. automakers cannot continue to produce affordable options for American consumers without the certainty and scale provided by a trilateral USMCA," said Jennifer Safavian, president and chief executive of Autos Drive America, a trade group for foreign automakers in the U.S.

 

The average price of a new car hovers around $50,000. More affordable options include the Mexico-built Nissan Sentra, starting at $22,600, and the $20,550 Hyundai Venue, imported from Korea.

 

Eight of the 10 cheapest new models in the U.S. are made by foreign-based automakers, according to Edmunds, an online car-shopping guide. The other two are small SUVs made by General Motors in Korea.

 

Trump's team so far has not committed to providing tariff-free treatment for automobiles in a revised USMCA. Administration officials have said that any renewed USMCA deal must have tougher automobile rules that limit Chinese parts in qualifying cars and require more automobile and parts manufacturing to return to the U.S.

 

Foreign automakers, however, say they are already losing money on many of their cheapest models, thanks in part to Trump's second-term tariffs. Levies on auto parts, finished automobiles and metals such as steel and aluminum have combined with higher labor and other costs in the U.S. to make it unprofitable for automakers to build their cheapest models in the country, some executives have said.

 

Tariffs have been "killing our affordable cars," Nissan Americas Chairman Christian Meunier said in a recent interview. A deal on USMCA will help ease the pain, he said.

 

Toyota has been racking up losses in North America since tariffs took effect last year. The automaker, which has said it plans to spend up to $10 billion on new U.S. factories in the next decade, is wary about a major expansion in the current trade environment, U.S. sales chief David Christ said. "It's hard to say, 'let's throw that $2-$3 billion down right now,' until you get some sort of a settlement," he said. "USMCA is kind of the next big milestone."

 

Honda said it would continue selling the compact Civic in the U.S. even without a trade deal, but that the economics of doing so would become more difficult without the certainty of free trade among North American nations.

 

"Extending the USMCA would provide the necessary stability for Japanese-brand automakers to continue to provide a wider variety of choices to consumers," said Anita Rajan, general director of the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association, a trade group.

 

The administration has provided some limited tariff relief to automakers, such as allowing them to recoup some of the tariffs they pay on parts. Last week, the administration allowed Canadian and Mexican steel and aluminum companies that supply the auto industry to apply for lower tariffs if they commit to build more manufacturing facilities in the U.S.

 

Carmakers complain that those measures remain narrow and their tariff bills continue to mount. They argue that persisting duties on cars made in Canada and Mexico put them at a disadvantage compared with affordable vehicle models made in Japan and South Korea -- which are subject to a 15% duty but often cost less to build.

 

U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer told House lawmakers last week that the U.S. could impose tariffs on Canada due to bans on U.S. liquor in some provinces that were put in place in response to Trump's levies. Greer told Mexican officials in meetings last week that some level of tariffs are likely to persist in a revised USMCA, according to a Mexican official familiar with the matter. Last week, Canada's trade chief said relief from tariffs on automobiles, steel, aluminum and other sectors would be necessary to renew the USMCA.

 

Mexico's economy chief said last week his country shouldn't be "nostalgic" about an era of no tariffs, and instead is working on how to reduce any levies the U.S. wants to impose.” [1]

 

1. Cheap Cars At Risk in Trade War, Foreign Brands Say. Sharon Terlep in Detroit; Bade, Gavin.  Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y.. 28 Apr 2026: A1.  

„Įsivaizduokite pirmąjį įtikinamą įrodymą, kad ateiviai egzistuoja.

Ar tai suakmenėję Marso mikrobai, gyvenę prieš milijardus metų, kai kaimyninė planeta buvo drėgnesnis, šiltesnis pasaulis? Galbūt tai vandens organizmai – nežemiški galvakojai moliuskai – kurie klesti tamsiose išorinės Saulės sistemos ledinių mėnulių jūrose. O gal tolima civilizacija nori bendrauti ir gali sukurti aptinkamą technologiją.

 

Netrukus galėtume rasti įrodymų kiekvienai iš šių galimybių – ir kitoms, apie kurias net nesapnavome. Šiandien naujos priemonės ir metodai padeda mokslininkams ieškoti nežemiškos biologijos mūsų Saulės sistemoje ir aplink kitas žvaigždes skriejančių planetų atmosferose, taip pat ieškoti nežemiškos įrangos pėdsakų bet kur.

 

„Tai didelis dangus, ir jūs turite skirti laiko, kad būtumėte atviri tam, kas pasirodys“, – sako Jamesas Davenportas, Vašingtono universiteto astronomas. „Kiekvieną kartą, kai įjungiame ką nors naujo, 100 % garantuojama, kad iškils anomalijų ar paslapčių.“

 

Ar egzistuoja ateiviai, yra amžina manija. Prieš daugiau nei 2000 metų tarp atomizmo filosofų, kurie manė, kad kosmosą sudaro begalybė atomų, išsidėsčiusių į begalinius pasaulius, kai kurie apgyvendinti kaip mūsų, ir tų, kurie manė, kad Žemė yra unikali, vyko diskusija. Per šimtmečius panašios ateivių prieglobsčio sampratos augo mistikų ir mokslininkų protuose, kartais sukeldamos lemtingus susidūrimus su dominuojančiomis religinėmis doktrinomis. Galiausiai mokslas išslydo iš erezijos pančių, o astronomai pakeitė mūsų supratimą apie Žemės vietą kosmose.

 

1890-aisiais ilgai brandintos svajonės apie apgyvendintą Marsą rado atramą JAV, kurias pakurstė turtingas astronomas Percivalis Lowellas, pastatęs Arizonos observatoriją. Ten Lowellas įtikino save, kad ateivių pastatyti kanalai raižo Marso paviršių, nors kiekvienas, stebėjęs Marsą panašiu teleskopu, žino, kad sunku daug ką pamatyti. visiškai detalių. Tačiau Lowello piešiniai (ir knygos) įžiebė visuomenės vaizduotę. XX amžiaus pradžios ryškesni teleskopai ir planetų fotografija numalšino gandus apie protingus nežemiškus kaimynus.

 

Šiandien žinome, kad mūsų galaktikoje gyvena milijardai planetų; kad vidutiniškai, naktį pažvelgus į viršų, kiekviena žvaigždė, kurią matome, turi bent vieną planetą. Šimtai milijonų tokių pasaulių pagal mūsų standartus galėtų būti tinkami gyventi. O gyvybės statybiniai blokai – nukleobazės, aminorūgštys, angliavandeniliai – yra beveik visur, kur tik pažvelgiame. Tačiau dar nežinome, ar pati gyvybė yra įprasta.

 

Mūsų Saulės sistemoje mokslininkai vis dar tyrinėja Marsą ir planuoja tyrinėti ledinius vandenyno palydovus, tokius kaip Europa, Enceladas ir Titanas, kurie skrieja aplink Jupiterį ir Saturną ir gali turėti gyvybei klestėti reikalingų ingredientų. NASA „Dragonfly“ misija į Titaną išskris jau 2028 m., o agentūros erdvėlaivis „Europa Clipper“ į Jupiterio sistemą atvyks 2030 m. Šiuo metu Marse važinėja marsaeigiai, bandydami išsiaiškinti, ar gyvybė egzistavo anksčiau nei... prieš tris milijardus metų, kai planeta buvo šiltesnė ir drėgnesnė.

 

Gali būti rasta viliojančių senovės Marso gyvybės pėdsakų. Išdžiūvusioje upės vagoje yra uoliena su ką tik išgręžta skyle – NASA marsaeigio „Perseverance“, kuris 2021 m. nusileido Jezero krateryje, rankų darbas.

 

2024 m. liepą pastebėtas rausvas molio akmuo turi organinių junginių ir kitų mineralų, kurie galėjo palaikyti praeities mikrobinius marsiečius.

 

Molito akmens paviršius padengtas geležies turtingų nuosėdų sankaupomis, beveik kaip leopardo dėmės, kuriose gali būti senovės gyvybės pirštų atspaudų. Žinoma, yra ir kitų būdų, kaip išvirti tas dėmes, tačiau tam reikalinga aukšta temperatūra, kurios uoliena tikriausiai niekada nepatyrė.

 

„Remiantis turima informacija, gyvybė yra vienas iš labiausiai tikėtinų būdų, kaip tai gauti“, – sako Morganas Cable'as iš Planetų mokslo instituto, ne pelno siekiančio tyrimų instituto Arizonoje. „Tai pats taupiausias paaiškinimas, bet jis gali būti ne vienintelis.“

 

Tikrai to nežinosime, kol tas išgręžtas uolienų mėginys pasiekia laboratorijas Žemėje. NASA Marso mėginių grąžinimo misija turėjo tai padaryti 2030-aisiais, tačiau misija tapo pernelyg išsipūtusi ir brangi. Kongresas neseniai nurodė NASA nutraukti MSR, kaip buvo numatyta. Dabar tyrėjai ieško ekonomiškesnio būdo pargabenti tas uolienas namo, sako buvęs misijos vyriausiasis mokslininkas Meenakshi Wadhwa. „Bent jau trumpuoju laikotarpiu šie mėginiai tikrai yra geriausia mūsų galimybė atsakyti į šį klausimą apie gyvybę“, – sako Wadhwa, kuris dabar vadovauja Scrippso okeanografijos institutui.

 

 

Už mūsų Saulės sistemos ribų mokslininkai siekia ieškoti egzoplanetų – pasaulių, skriejančių aplink kitas žvaigždes – atmosferose molekulių, kurios išduoda biologijos buvimą. Tai gali skambėti paprastai, bet taip nėra.

 

 

„Iš tikrųjų nėra nė vieno ženklo,  kas gali rodyti gyvybę“, – sako Lisa Kaltenegger, Kornelio universiteto astronomė. Vietoj to, mokslininkai tirs dujas, egzistuojančias tokiu būdu, kurio negalima paaiškinti vien geologija. Pavyzdžiui, metanas ir deguonis paprastai reaguoja tarpusavyje, sudarydami anglies dioksidą ir vandenį. Jei jas matote kartu, pasak Kaltenegger, tai gali reikšti, kad metabolinės krosnys gamina abu išmatuojamais kiekiais.

 

Kad įsitikintų, kad dujos rodo gyvybę, mokslininkai turi sukurti tikslinių pasaulių modelius, kad suprastų planetų kontekstą, kuriame egzistuoja potencialus biologinis parašas. Priešingu atveju jie rizikuoja pateikti sensacingus teiginius, kurie neturi prasmės. „Prieš dvidešimt penkerius metus niekas negalėjo paleisti tokių klimato modelių ar šių didžiulių atmosferų simuliacijų“, – sako Davenport. „Dabar įprastai sukurti ledinę Žemę, jauną Žemę, lavos planetą – tai didžiulės technologinės inovacijos.“

 

Taip pat ir įrankiai, kuriuos mokslininkai naudoja nežemiškam orui tirti. Šiuo metu tai reiškia, kad NASA kosmose esantis Jameso Webbo kosminis teleskopas turi būti nukreiptas į uolėtas egzoplanetas, skriejančias aplink blankias raudonas žvaigždes. Šis darbas yra ant observatorijos ribų. galimybės. Nepageidaujama šviesa iš tokių žvaigždžių kaip mūsų Saulė dar labiau apsunkina šiuos stebėjimus. Norint ištirti tikrus Žemės analogus, mokslininkams reikės dar aštresnių įrankių, tokių kaip NASA flagmanas „Habitable Worlds Observatory“, kuris galėtų būti paleistas per ateinančius 15 metų ir naudodamas naujų technologijų rinkinį, kad nuotoliniu būdu ištirtų planetos atmosferą. Iš Žemės tą patį bandys padaryti naujos kartos tinkamai klasifikuoti itin dideli teleskopai, kai kurie iš jų jau statomi.

 

Tada dar reikia ieškoti technosignatūrų arba nežemiškų technologijų požymių. Frankas Drake'as, šios srities tėvas – taip pat mano tėvas – 1960 m. pradėjo nežemiško intelekto (SETI) paieškas su projektu „Ozma“. Jis ieškojo radijo signalų aplink dvi į Saulę panašias žvaigždes ir greitai užkariavo visuomenės vaizduotę. Tačiau SETI sumanymas iki šiol sunkiai rado finansavimą ir mokslinį patikimumą.

 

„Jaučiu, kad technosignatūros pasiekia plačiąją srovę“, – sako Shelley Wright, SETI mokslininkė iš Kalifornijos universiteto San Diege. „Iš tikrųjų tai tikrai įdomus laikas.“

 

Skirta SETI Tokios observatorijos kaip Alleno teleskopų masyvas ir Wrighto Panoseti jau pastatytos. „Breakthrough Listen“, didžiausia iki šiol radijo SETI paieška, jau dešimtmetį finansuojama privačiai. Ateivių medžiotojai dabar ieško bet kokių technologijų, radijo ar kitų, ženklų ir analizuoja duomenis iš didelių observatorijų, apimančių elektromagnetinį spektrą.

 

Viena iš jų bus Veros Rubino observatorija, finansuojama Nacionalinio mokslo fondo ir Energetikos departamento. Ji ką tik pradėjo veikti Čilėje. Kiekvieną naktį observatorija padarys tūkstantį dangaus vaizdų virš galvos, o SETI mokslininkai apdoros duomenis. Jų algoritmai naudos mašininį mokymąsi ir dirbtinį intelektą, kurie ypač gerai atpažįsta šablonus, kad padėtų nustatyti bet kokius išskirtinius objektus.

 

„Šie dideli duomenų rinkiniai ir dirbtinio intelekto modeliai tikrai padeda mums užmesti didelį tinklą“, – sako Steve'as Croftas, „Breakthrough Listen“ iniciatyvos projekto mokslininkas.

 

Nepaisant to, ką galbūt girdėjote, Saulės sistemoje dar neaptikome jokių tarpžvaigždinių erdvėlaivių. Tačiau keistai SETI tyrėjai domisi Rubino observatorijos naudojimu nežemiškos įrangos paieškai mūsų pačių kieme. Mūsų pačių civilizacijoje. į anapus pasaulį pasiuntė keletą technologinių parašų erdvėlaivių pavidalu. Labai tikėtina, kad „Voyager 1“ ir jo giminingos palydovės – paleistos 1977 m. stebėti mūsų Saulės sistemos išorines planetas ir mėnulius, o vėliau pakilusios į tarpžvaigždinę erdvę – gyvens gerokai ilgiau nei žmonės, Saulė ir Žemės planeta.

 

„Visiškai pagrįsta manyti, kad kadangi žmonija pasiuntė erdvėlaivius į tarpžvaigždinę erdvę, kitos civilizacijos gali padaryti tą patį“, – sako Croftas. „Mums savotiška pareiga jų ieškoti.“

 

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Nadia Drake yra mokslo žurnalistė ir buvusi „National Geographic“ bendradarbė. Su ja galima susisiekti el. paštu reports@wsj.com.“ [1]

 

1. USA250: Innovation (A Special Report) --- The Hunt for Extraterrestrial Life Enters a New Frontier: Scientists are using advanced telescopes, models and AI to help them look for signs of life beyond Earth, including in distant solar systems. Drake, Nadia.  Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y.. 27 Apr 2026: R22.  

USA250: Innovation (A Special Report) --- The Hunt for Extraterrestrial Life Enters a New Frontier: Scientists are using advanced telescopes, models and AI to help them look for signs of life beyond Earth, including in distant solar systems

“Imagine the first convincing evidence that aliens exist.

 

Are they fossilized Martian microbes that lived billions of years ago when the planet next door was a wetter, warmer world? Perhaps they're aquatic organisms -- otherworldly cephalopods -- that thrive in the dark seas of the outer solar system's icy moons. Or maybe a faraway civilization wants to communicate and can build detectable technology.

 

We could soon find evidence for each of these options -- plus others we haven't even dreamed of. Today, new tools and approaches are helping scientists search for alien biology within our solar system and in the atmospheres of planets orbiting other stars, and look for traces of extraterrestrial hardware anywhere.

 

"It's a big sky and you have to spend time being open to what's going to show up," says James Davenport, an astronomer at the University of Washington. "Any time we turn something new on, it's 100% guaranteed that anomalies or mysteries will pop out."

 

Whether aliens exist is a timeless obsession. More than 2,000 years ago, a debate raged between atomist philosophers -- who thought the cosmos comprised infinite atoms, arranged into infinite worlds, some inhabited like ours -- and those who believed Earth was unique. Over centuries, similar conceptions of alien harbors grew in the minds of mystics and scientists, sometimes leading to fatal clashes with dominant religious doctrines. Eventually, science slipped the shackles of heresy and astronomers revolutionized our understanding of Earth's place in the cosmos.

 

In the 1890s, long-simmering dreams of an inhabited Mars found a foothold in the U.S., fanned by wealthy astronomer Percival Lowell, who built an Arizona observatory. There, Lowell convinced himself that alien-built canals crisscrossed the Martian surface, though anyone who has observed Mars with a similar telescope knows it's hard to see much detail at all. But Lowell's drawings (and books) ignited public imaginations. It would take the early 20th century's sharper telescopes and planetary photography to quell the buzz about smart alien neighbors.

 

Today we know that billions of planets populate our galaxy; that on average, when you look up at night, each star you see hosts at least one planet. Hundreds of millions of those worlds could be habitable by our standards. And life's building blocks -- nucleobases, amino acids, hydrocarbons -- are pretty much everywhere we look. But we don't yet know whether life itself is common.

 

In our solar system, scientists are still scrutinizing Mars, and plan to explore icy ocean moons such as Europa, Enceladus and Titan that orbit Jupiter and Saturn and might have the ingredients necessary for life to thrive. NASA's Dragonfly mission will sail for Titan as soon as 2028, and the agency's Europa Clipper spacecraft arrives in the Jupiter system in 2030. Rovers currently are trundling on Mars, attempting to learn whether life existed more than three billion years ago when the planet was warmer and wetter.

 

Tantalizing traces of ancient Martian life may have been found. In a dried-up riverbed, there's a rock with a freshly drilled hole in it -- the handiwork of NASA's Perseverance rover, which touched down in Jezero Crater in 2021.

 

Spotted in July 2024, the reddish mudstone contains organic compounds and other minerals that could have supported bygone microbial Martians.

 

The mudstone's surface is covered with clusters of iron-rich deposits, almost like leopard spots, that could bear ancient life's fingerprints. To be sure, there are other ways to cook up those spots, but they require high temperatures the rock probably never experienced.

 

"Based on the information we have, life is one of the most likely ways we could get this," says Morgan Cable of the Planetary Science Institute, a nonprofit research institute in Arizona. "It's the most parsimonious explanation, but it may not be the only one."

 

We won't know for sure until that drilled rock sample reaches labs on Earth. NASA's Mars Sample Return mission was supposed to do that in the 2030s, but the mission grew too bloated and expensive. Congress recently directed NASA to discontinue MSR as envisioned. Now, researchers are seeking a more cost-effective way to get those rocks home, says Meenakshi Wadhwa, the mission's former principal scientist. "At least in the short-term, these samples really do represent our best opportunity to answer that question about life," says Wadhwa, who now heads the Scripps Institution of Oceanography.

 

Beyond our solar system, scientists are aiming to search the atmospheres of exoplanets -- worlds orbiting other stars -- for molecules that betray the presence of biology. It may sound simple but it isn't.

 

"There's really no one signature that can indicate life," says Lisa Kaltenegger, an astronomer at Cornell University. Instead, scientists will target gases coexisting in ways that can't be explained by geology alone. Methane and oxygen, for example, would normally react with each other, forming carbon dioxide and water. If you see them together, Kaltenegger says, that could imply metabolic furnaces producing both in measurable quantities.

 

To be convinced that gases point to life, scientists must make models of target worlds to understand the planetary context in which a potential biosignature exists. Otherwise, they run the risk of making sensational claims that don't make sense. "Twenty-five years ago, nobody could run those climate models, or these huge simulations of atmospheres," Davenport says. "To now routinely produce an icy Earth, a young Earth, a lava planet -- those are huge technological innovations."

 

So, too, are the tools scientists use to investigate alien air. Right now, that means pointing NASA's space-based James Webb Space Telescope at rocky exoplanets orbiting dim red stars. The endeavor is on the edge of the observatory's capabilities. Unwelcome light from stars like our sun makes those observations even harder. To study true Earth analogues, scientists will need even-sharper tools, like NASA's flagship Habitable Worlds Observatory, which could launch within the next 15 years and use a suite of new technologies to remotely dissect a planet's atmosphere. From the ground, the next generation of aptly classified Extremely Large Telescopes, some of which are under construction, will attempt to do the same thing.

 

Then there's the search for technosignatures, or signs of alien technology. Frank Drake, the father of that field -- also my father -- ignited the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) with Project Ozma in 1960. It looked for radio signals around two sun-like stars and quickly captured popular imaginations. But the SETI enterprise struggled to find funding and scientific credibility until recently.

 

"I feel like technosignatures are hitting the mainstream," says Shelley Wright, a SETI scientist at the University of California, San Diego. "It's a really exciting time, actually."

 

Dedicated SETI observatories like the Allen Telescope Array and Wright's Panoseti have already been built. Breakthrough Listen, the largest radio SETI search to date, has been privately funded for a decade. Alien hunters now are looking for any sign of technology, radio or not, and sifting through data from large observatories that span the electromagnetic spectrum.

 

One of those will be the Vera Rubin Observatory, funded by the National Science Foundation and the Energy Department. It just came online in Chile. Every night, the observatory will take a thousand images of the sky overhead, and SETI scientists will process the data. Their algorithms will use machine learning and AI, which are particularly good at pattern recognition, to help identify anything distinctive.

 

"These large data sets and AI models really help us to cast a large net," says Steve Croft, project scientist for the Breakthrough Listen initiative.

 

Despite what you may have heard, we haven't yet detected any interstellar spaceships in the solar system. But in a weird twist, SETI researchers are interested in using the Rubin Observatory to search for alien hardware in our own backyard. Our own civilization has sent several technosignatures into the beyond, in the form of spacecraft. In all probability, Voyager 1 and its siblings -- launched in 1977 to surveil our solar system's outer planets and moons and then head into interstellar space -- will vastly outlive humans, the sun and the planet Earth.

 

"It's quite reasonable to assume that since humanity has sent spacecraft into interstellar space, other civilizations might do the same thing," Croft says. "It's sort of incumbent on us to look for them."

 

---

 

Nadia Drake is a science journalist and former contributing writer at National Geographic. She can be reached at reports@wsj.com.” [1]

 

1. USA250: Innovation (A Special Report) --- The Hunt for Extraterrestrial Life Enters a New Frontier: Scientists are using advanced telescopes, models and AI to help them look for signs of life beyond Earth, including in distant solar systems. Drake, Nadia.  Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y.. 27 Apr 2026: R22.  

The Rise of the High-Range, Less Expensive E.V.

“Even as the electric vehicle market has slumped, there are more long-range E.V.s under $40,000 than ever before.

 

It’s a weird moment for electric vehicles in the United States. Sales have fallen since the Trump administration ended the $7,500 tax credit, and car manufacturers are canceling models. And while it’s likely that the recent surge in gas prices will push more people to E.V.s, it probably won’t happen fast.

 

But if there’s a bright spot in the E.V. market, it’s the budget, high-range car — a corner of the market that’s growing in number of models and, in some cases, even in sales.

 

E.V.s under $40,000 can now go as far as the most expensive models of a decade ago.

 

Range anxiety has long been a sticking point for potential E.V. owners, especially in winter. Most people don’t need to drive far every day, but they want to know they can make the occasional big trip.

 

For a long time, price and range were highly correlated: More expensive models went much farther on one charge. That’s not the case anymore. Some expensive cars have estimated ranges above 400 miles — notably some Lucid and Rivian models — but others offer less range than cars $50,000 cheaper.

 

Range and price aren’t everyone’s top criteria — there are charging speeds, horsepower, reliability, aesthetics, size and more to consider. But if your primary concern is just how far the car can get you on a single charge without breaking the bank, consider this unusual but useful metric: miles of range per dollar spent.

 

At a starting price of $32,000, the 2026 Nissan Leaf gets nearly 10 miles of total range for every $1,000 of sticker price, with Chevrolet’s $37,000 Equinox EV close behind. The most expensive E.V.s score much worse on this metric — three miles per $1,000 or fewer — but they’re luxury cars.

 

(Note that price and range vary even for a single model, depending on the trim; we looked at the cheapest price and longest range for each car and picked the one with the highest ratio of miles to dollars.)

 

Just five years ago, the best cars in this metric couldn’t top six miles per $1,000. (After adjusting for inflation.)

 

A big part of that trajectory is battery technology: Prices for lithium-ion batteries, the primary type used for E.V.s, have fallen to around $100 per kilowatt-hour in 2025, from $1,000 in the early 2010s, according to BloombergNEF. Battery density has gone up too.

 

As battery costs fell and manufacturers built more E.V.s, ranges rose and prices fell. Tesla’s cheapest Model 3 climbed to a range of 321 miles this year, up from 220 when it was launched in the late 2010s, while its inflation-adjusted price decreased.

 

Or consider the Leaf, which debuted 15 years ago.

 

By 2016, the cheapest Leaf had 84 miles of range and cost around $30,000, the equivalent of $40,000 today.

 

Nissan’s $32,000 2026 Leaf has a range of more than 300 miles.

 

Some automakers have released entirely new models under $40,000 in recent years, including the Chevrolet Equinox and the Subaru Uncharted. And the end of the tax credit led others to drop prices on existing cars: Tesla introduced a trimmed-down, significantly cheaper Model 3, and Hyundai slashed its Ioniq 5 prices by roughly the same amount as the credit.

 

Altogether, the cheaper end of the market has boomed, and the average price of a new E.V. has fallen. (Used E.V. prices fell, too, and sales climbed.)

 

There’s still a lot of bad E.V. news among automakers, who have canceled models and pulled back on battery manufacturing. New E.V. sales dropped 27 percent from early 2025 to early 2026. But models that offered a high-range, lower-price trim seemed to weather the downturn better — some of them even picked up in sales, while others held relatively steady despite the end of the tax credit.

 

New E.V.s still can’t beat new gas cars on sticker price and range. A standard Toyota Corolla can go more than 400 miles on a tank of gas, and costs around $25,000.

 

Still, the costs of driving a gas car add up: If gas prices settled back to $3.50 per gallon, that relatively efficient Corolla would cost more than $1,100 for the average driver each year, and about the same in maintenance. Over a decade, that would total nearly $50,000. (Car purchase included.)

 

The $32,000 Leaf would cost around $600 each year to drive, at average U.S. electricity prices, and about the same in maintenance, according to federal estimates. It would add up to $45,000 over the decade.” [1]

 

1. The Rise of the High-Range, Less Expensive E.V. Paris, Francesca.  New York Times (Online) New York Times Company. Apr 27, 2026.

Lenkijos vadovybėje formuojasi proamerikietiškos ir antiamerikietiškos frakcijos: Lenkijos ministras pirmininkas kaltinamas NATO aljanso griovimu, suabejojęs Amerikos „lojalumu“ Europai

„Lenkijos globalistas ministras pirmininkas Donaldas Tuskas sulaukia kritikos dėl nepagrįsto kaltinimo, kad Jungtinės Valstijos karo atveju neliks „lojalios“ ir negins Europos.

 

Akivaizdžiai bandydamas įžeisti JAV prezidentą Donaldą Trumpą, Lenkijos ministras pirmininkas Tuskas paragino Europos Sąjungą sukurti visavertį gynybinį aljansą, teigdamas, kad Jungtinės Valstijos nėra patikima partnerė.

 

Buvęs ES vadovas „Financial Times“ sakė, kad Europos „didžiausias ir svarbiausias klausimas yra tai, ar Jungtinės Valstijos yra pasirengusios būti tokios lojalios, kaip aprašyta mūsų [NATO] sutartyse“, atsižvelgiant į tai, kad Rusija gali užpulti valstybę narę per „mėnesius“.

 

„Visam rytiniam flangui, mano kaimynams, klausimas yra tas, ar NATO vis dar yra organizacija, pasirengusi politiškai ir logistiškai reaguoti, pavyzdžiui, prieš Rusiją, jei ši bandytų pulti“, – sakė jis.

 

„Nes mums labai svarbu žinoti, kad visi NATO įsipareigojimus vertins taip pat rimtai, kaip ir Lenkija“, – sakė Tuskas, pažymėdamas, kad pagal BVP procentą Varšuva yra daugiausiai išleidžianti NATO narė, nors absoliučiais skaičiais ją lenkia Jungtinės Valstijos.

 

„Vašingtonas Lenkiją laiko geriausia ir artimiausia sąjungininke Europoje. Tačiau man tikroji problema yra tai, kaip bus praktiškai, jei kas nors nutiks“, – tęsė Lenkijos ministras pirmininkas. „Noriu tikėti, kad [5 straipsnis] vis dar galioja, bet kartais, žinoma, turiu tam tikrų problemų.“

 

„Nenoriu būti toks pesimistas, bet šiandien mums reikia ir praktinio konteksto.“

 

Tuskas, anksčiau atlikęs Briuselio apgavikišką vaidmenį, 2014 m. palikęs ministro pirmininko postą ir užėmęs daug pelningesnį Europos Vadovų Tarybos pirmininko vaidmenį, o 2023 m. sugrįžęs ir vėl siekęs valdžios Varšuvoje, regis, palaiko tokius asmenis kaip Prancūzijos prezidentas Emmanuelis Macronas ir ES vadovė Ursula von der Leyen, bandydamas pasinaudoti dabartine transatlantine trintimi ir siekti ES kariuomenės formavimo.

 

Interviu globalistiniam laikraščiui „FT“ Tuskas nurodė ES sutarties 42.7 straipsnį – gana neaiškų gynybos paktą – kaip potencialų pagrindą sukurti ne NATO Europos karinį aljansą. Nuo tada, kai buvo susitarta, jis buvo panaudotas tik vieną kartą – Prancūzijos po 2015 m. teroristinių išpuolių „Bataclan“ klube.

 

Straipsnyje teigiama, kad „jei valstybė narė tampa ginkluotos agresijos savo teritorijoje auka, kitos valstybės narės privalo teikti jai pagalbą ir paramą visomis savo turimomis priemonėmis pagal Jungtinių Tautų Chartijos 51 straipsnį“. Tai neturi daryti įtakos tam tikrų valstybių narių saugumo ir gynybos politikos specifiniam pobūdžiui.“

 

„Jei norite turėti tikrą aljansą ne tik popieriuje, jums reikia tikrų įrankių ir realios galios, kalbant apie gynybos priemones ir kariuomenių mobilumą iš vienos šalies į kitą ir pan. Tai labai praktiška šiandienos problema“, – sakė Tuskas. „Štai kodėl dabar mano manija ir misija yra iš naujo integruoti Europą.“

 

„Tai reiškia bendrą gynybą, bendras pastangas apsaugoti mūsų rytines sienas.“

 

Penktadienį Tusko įpėdinis Europos Vadovų Tarybos pirmininko poste, portugalų socialistas António Costa, pareiškė, kad neseniai įvykdyti Irano smūgiai Kiprui tapo „bandomuoju pavyzdžiu“, kaip galėtų veikti tarpusavio gynybos paktas, ir pažymėjo, kad „Graikija, o vėliau Prancūzija, Italija, Ispanija ir [Nyderlandai] mobilizavo karinę įrangą ir pajėgas“, kad padėtų Kiprui po incidento.

 

Priešingai, Jungtinė Karalystė, nepaisant to, kad turėjo bazę saloje, užtruko tris savaites, kad surinktų karo laivą, kurį galėtų išsiųsti į regioną, ir vos po kelių dienų buvo priversta išsiųsti tą patį karo laivą į uostą techninei priežiūrai.

 

Blogas JK ir kitų NATO narių, ypač socialistinės Ispanijos, kuri Irano konflikto metu visiškai atsisakė suteikti Jungtinėms Valstijoms bet kokią prieigą prie savo oro erdvės ir karinių bazių, atsakas paskatino Baltuosius rūmus viešai suabejoti dabartine Aljanso struktūra ir po Irano karo iškėlė idėją nubausti tam tikrus nelojalius veikėjus.

 

Nepaisant to, prezidentas Trumpas nuolat tvirtino, kad gerbs NATO susitarimo 5 straipsnio tarpusavio gynybos nuostatą ir yra plačiai pripažįstamas už NATO stiprinimą, spaudžiant sąjungininkes pagaliau išleisti daugiau lėšų. savo gynybos biudžetus.

 

Nepaisant to, visoje Europoje vis labiau girdisi šurmulys dėl tolesnių gynybos įsipareigojimų – tai tarsi antausis prezidentui Trumpui, nors jis daro būtent taip, kaip prašė.

 

Šio fronto lyderis buvo Prancūzijos prezidentas Emmanuelis Macronas, kuris paskutiniais savo kadencijos metais, regis, siekia išsaugoti kai kuriuos senus dalykus, palikdamas pėdsaką Europos gynybos aparate.

 

Be to, kad ilgai lobizavo už tiesioginę ES armiją, prezidentas Macronas pastaruoju metu pradėjo derybas su kitais ES lyderiais dėl perspektyvos išplėsti Prancūzijos branduolinių ginklų skėtį visame žemyne, siekiant atgrasyti tokius priešininkus kaip Vladimiro Putino Rusija.

 

Būdama vienintele branduolinį ginklą turinčia valstybe, likusia Europos Sąjungoje po Jungtinės Karalystės išstojimo, Prancūzija yra bet kokių potencialių bendrų gynybos pajėgų vairuotoja, atsižvelgiant į tai, kad Paryžius beveik neabejotinai išlaikytų išimtinę savo branduolinių galvučių dislokavimo kontrolę.

 

Anksčiau šį mėnesį prezidentas Macronas nuvyko į Gdanską aptarti su ministru pirmininku Tusku galimybės dislokuoti Prancūzijos branduolines pajėgas Lenkijoje kaip šios strategijos dalį.

 

Nors tvirtesnė gynybos struktūra buvo seniai prezidento Trumpo reikalavimas, kai kurie kritikavo ministrą pirmininką Tuską už tai, kad jis atvirai abejojo ​​Jungtinių Valstijų, kurios išlieka svarbiausia Varšuvos karine sąjungininke, lojalumu.

 

Opozicinės konservatyviosios partijos „Įstatymas ir teisingumas“ lyderis Jarosławas Kaczyńskis sekmadienį pareiškė, kad Vokietija apgaudinėja Tuską, priversdamas jį sakyti komentarus, kurie „griauna Lenkijos ir Amerikos santykius“, ir apgailestavo, kad Lenkijai vadovauja „žmonės, kuriems Dievas nedavė bet kokių politinių gebėjimų“.”

 

Pro- and Anti-American Fractions Form in Leadership of Poland: Polish PM Accused of Undermining NATO Alliance After Questioning America’s ‘Loyalty’ to Europe

“Poland’s globalist Prime Minsiter Donald Tusk is facing criticism over his unfounded accusation that the United States would not remain “loyal” and come to Europe’s defence in the case of a war.

 

In an apparent shot across the bow against U.S. President Donald Trump, Polish PM Tusk has urged the European Union to develop a fully fledged defensive alliance, while claiming that the United States is not a trustworthy partner.

 

The former EU chief told the Financial Times that Europe’s “biggest, most important question is if the United States is ready to be as loyal as it is described in our [Nato] treaties,” given that Russia could potentially attack a member state within “months”.

 

“For the whole eastern flank, my neighbours… the question is if NATO is still an organisation ready, politically and also logistically, to react, for example, against Russia if they try to attack,” he said.

 

“For us, it’s really important to know that everyone will treat the Nato obligations as seriously as Poland,” Tusk said, noting that by percentage of GDP, Warsaw is the top spender in NATO, though in absolute terms dwarfed by the United States.

 

“Washington treats Poland as the best and the closest ally in Europe. But for me, the real problem is what it is in practice if something happens,” the Polish PM continued. “I want to believe that [Article 5] is still valid, but sometimes, of course, I have some problems.”

 

“I don’t want to be so pessimistic… but what we need today is also practical context.”

 

Tusk, who previously played Brussels turncoat, by abandoning his former position as prime minister to take up the far more lucrative role of President of the European Council in 2014, only to come back and seek power once again in Warsaw in 2023, appears to be siding with the likes of French President Emmanuel Macron and EU cheif Ursula von der Leyen in attempting to seize upon the current transatlantic friction to push for the formation of an EU Army.

 

In his interview with the globalist FT paper, Tusk pointed to Article 42.7 of the EU Treaty, a relatively obscure defence pact, as a potential framework for creating a non-NATO European military alliance. Since agreed to, it has only been invoked once, by France following the 2015 Bataclan terror attacks.

 

The article states that “if a Member State is the victim of armed aggression on its territory, the other Member States shall have towards it an obligation of aid and assistance by all the means in their power, in accordance with Article 51 of the United Nations Charter. This shall not prejudice the specific character of the security and defence policy of certain Member States.”

 

“What you need if you want to have, not only on paper, a real alliance, is true tools and real power when it comes to defence instruments and mobility of militaries from country to country etc. It’s a very practical problem for today,” Tusk said. “This is why my obsession now and my mission is to reintegrate Europe.”

 

“It means common defence… a common effort to protect our eastern borders.”

 

Tusk’s successor as European Council President, Portuguese socialist António Costa, said on Friday that the recent Iranian strikes on Cyprus provided a “test case” on how a mutual defence pact could function, noting that “Greece, and then France, Italy, Spain and [the] Netherlands mobilised military equipment and forces” to assist Cyprus in the aftermath.

 

In contrast, the United Kingdom, despite having a base on the island, took three weeks to muster a warship to send to the region, and was forced to send that very warship to port just days later for maintenance.

 

The lacklustre response from the UK and other members of NATO, notably socialist Spain, which outright refused all access to its airspace and military bases to the United States during the Iran conflict, has led to the White House publicly questioning the current framework of the alliance and has floated the idea of punishing certain disloyal actors following the Iran war.

 

Nevertheless, President Trump has consistently maintained that he would honour the Article 5 mutual defence provision of the NATO agreement, and has been widely credited with bolstering NATO by pressuring allies to finally spend more on their own defence budgets.

 

Despite this, there has been a growing hum across Europe for further defence commitments, a supposed slap at President Trump, while doing exactly as he has asked.

 

A leader on this front has been French President Emmanuel Macron, who, in his final year in office, appears intent on salvaging some legacy points by leaving a mark on the European defence apparatus.

 

In addition to having long lobbied for an outright EU Army, President Macron has of late begun negotiations with fellow EU leaders on the prospect of extending the French nuclear arms umbrella across the continent to deter adversaries such as Vladimir Putin’s Russia.

 

As the only nuclear-armed power remaining in the European Union after the departure of the United Kingdom, France is in the driver’s seat for any potential common defence force, given that Paris would almost certainly retain sole control over the deployment of its nuclear warheads.

 

Earlier this month, President Macron travelled to Gdańsk to discuss with Prime Minister Tusk the possibility of forward-deploying French nuclear forces to Poland as part of this strategy.

 

Although a firmer defence structure has been a longstanding demand from President Trump, some have criticised Prime Minister Tusk for openly questioning the loyalty of the United States, which remains Warsaw’s most important military ally.

 

The leader of the opposition conservative Law and Justice party, Jarosław Kaczyński, said on Sunday that Tusk was being duped by Germany into making comments that were “destroying Polish-American relations” and lamented that Poland was being led “by people whom God shortchanged on any political abilities whatsoever.””