EV shift puts engine jobs on chopping block in Japan and Germany

[Klaralven]

TOKYO -- For decades, the internal combustion engine has powered cars and household incomes worldwide. Now, the future of jobs making thousands of engine components looks as murky as that of the technology itself.

Driven in part by government policy, the global shift to electric vehicles will affect hundreds of thousands of automotive jobs in the coming decades, according to estimates. In Japan alone, the rise of EVs threatens the loss of employment for 84,000 people by 2050, or more than 10% of the 686,000 jobs in auto parts production, says Arthur D. Little Japan, a consulting group.

The change has already been felt at some Japanese carmakers. Honda Motor said on June 4 that its powertrain factory in Moka, a city north of Tokyo, will shut down in 2025 as part of the company's pivot to EVs. Roughly 900 employees will be relocated to other sites.

Honda said in April that gasoline-powered vehicles will disappear from its lineup by 2040. All new autos will be EVs and hydrogen-powered fuel cell vehicles, reducing the need for engine parts.

https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Automobiles/EV-shift-puts-engine-jobs-on-chopping-block-in-Japan-and-Germany

[dweller]

1. Good to see Honda

Looking at hydrogen powered fuel cells …

ICE engines in current vehicles *might* be retrofitted with electric engines …
I know they have been doing it with air cooled classic VWs for years now …
First time I saw one, I had just gotten off work and was walking to my car, when a Beetle whisked by silently, I thought coasting because the engine sound is so easy to recognize, and realized he was going uphill… he turned down a side street I traveled home, and I came upon it with driver pushing it, got out to help …
Pushed it into a driveway 50’ or so, driver explained he had picked it up after conversion and they had charged it just enough for his trip home … but he was having too much fun driving he ran out short of destination.
We chatted about the conversion for a bit, he had to get a cord long enough to recharge, and headed inside, I took a look at the engine, it looked pretty small but it’s what it took to get it down the road …
I have a 77 VW Westie I’d love to convert one day, sigh, $$$$

✌🏻

[Xolodno]

2. So that's about 30 years

84k over 30 years is 2800.

Bet a lot of that disappears to just attrition. What doesn't, gets retrained.

Edit: Forgot to add...there will soon be a GOP meme: 84,000 JOBS LOST DUE TO ELECTRICAL CARS!

[tirebiter]

3. The Toyota truck is a as necessary as the AK-47 to Islamic Revolutionaries

It’s not going away soon.