The Biden administration has introduced initiatives to promote electric vehicle (EV) adoption within the automotive industry, but former Chrysler CEO Bob Nardelli remains highly skeptical of the government’s approach.

In an interview with Fox Business, Nardelli discussed challenges facing America’s EV sector, pointing out disparities between EV charging infrastructure and traditional gasoline stations. “There’s 64,000 EV charging stations compared to 196,000 gasoline stations,” he noted, citing reliability concerns with EV chargers.

Nardelli criticized the administration’s push for an EV revolution, stating, “You can’t force it down consumers’ throats.”

Reflecting on the performance of EV companies, Nardelli highlighted setbacks for industry leaders like Tesla and BYD. “Tesla really missed the number in the first quarter,” he remarked, referring to Tesla’s 8.5% decline in EV deliveries compared to the same period last year. This shortfall also fell below Wall Street’s delivery projections.

Nardelli was equally critical of Chinese EV manufacturer BYD, noting they fell short of expectations with 300,114 EVs sold in Q1 of 2024.

Expressing doubts about EV startups, Nardelli singled out Rivian, which incurred significant losses. “Rivian lost $5.4 billion last year,” he stated, suggesting challenges for emerging players in the industry. “So they’re having one heck of a time; these startups are just not going to make it.”