Auto expert John Cadogan’s scathing verdict on electric cars: Find out his reasons and why he calls Elon Musk’s Tesla ‘doomed’

Outspoken car expert John Cadogan has launched an epic rant against electric vehicles, accusing them of being expensive to repair and decreasing in resale value.

The veteran auto journalist who runs it AutoExpert website commented in typically colorful fashion on a YouTube video posted Tuesday titled “Tesla electric vehicles are just too expensive to own – says Hertz CEO.”

As a case study for the problems of electric vehicles, and Teslas in particular, Cadogan uses the major US rental car provider Hertz.

Hertz announced this week that it is slowing the introduction of 100,000 Teslas into its fleet – of which only around 35,000 are in operation – although the bulk purchase was first announced for 2021.

An automotive expert says newer Tesla brands (pictured a Model 3) are being heavily discounted as demand in the electric vehicle market wanes

In a typically succinct and expletive-laden post, Cadogan explained why.

“The damn things just cost too much to keep on the road and the resale value sucks,” he said.

Stephen Scherr, CEO of Hertz Global, said that collision and damage repairs on a Tesla “cost approximately twice as much as a comparable internal combustion engine vehicle.”

The global electric vehicle market has stalled, as Sam Fiorani, vice president of AutoForecast Solutions, explained Business Insider “The spectacular growth we have experienced in recent years cannot be sustained.”

Cadogan explained this as a lack of “virtue signaling t**ts.”

“Electric Scientology fanatic customers appear to be at a plateau,” he said.

John Cadogan said that if Tesla could only compete by lowering the prices of its cars, the company would be “doomed to fail.”

“It could mean the end of the age of bullsh***.”

In response, he said Tesla CEO Elon Musk, whom he called “electric Jesus,” was forced to “inelegantly cut prices to get customers to come in the front door.”

He said this has led to a sharp decline in resale value.

Mr. Scherr also mentioned this when justifying Hertz’s slower adoption of the model.

“The decline in the Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price (MSRP) of electric vehicles throughout 2023, driven primarily by Tesla, has caused the market value of our electric vehicles to decline compared to the previous year, resulting in a greater recovery and with that greater loss comes burden,” said Mr. Scherr.

According to Cadogan, prices for new Teslas have fallen by up to 20 percent.

“Be honest, Tesla fan, how many 20 percent price cuts can Tesla take before the shit show just collapses,” he said.

“If price cuts are the only countermeasure to increased competition, Tesla is doomed.”

He pointed out that a major buyer like Hertz got its Teslas at a significant discount and negotiated a good deal on maintenance.

“Even that wasn’t enough to reverse Hertz’s economic impact from the double whammy of Teslas being too expensive to repair and resale value imploding,” Cadogan said.

According to Cadogan, the discounting of new Teslas was a cynical move that severely impacted owners.

US car rental giant Hertz has announced that it will slow the introduction of Teslas into its fleet

“Every time the electronic Jesus simply lowers prices, it also has a big impact on the resale value of existing owners,” he argued.

“He’s happy to destroy existing owners if it brings in new believers, which isn’t a very sustainable business strategy in the long run, is it?

“If you really take the biggest bath in your (Tesla) Model 3, are you really going to get back to the front?” How much of the koolaid did you actually consume?

He believed that what was true for Teslas was largely true for all battery-powered vehicles.

“It seems like every day there is more evidence that this mad rush to all-battery electric transportation is little more than a buffet full of crappy sandwiches,” he said.

“And problematically, I think we’re running out of bread.”

This week it was announced that US car giant Ford would cut its investment in electric vehicles after revealing it was losing around US$36,000 ($57,000) for each battery-powered vehicle produced.

Ford’s longtime rival General Motors also said it had abandoned its goal of producing 400,000 electric vehicles by the first half of 2024, citing slowing demand, production bottlenecks and low profitability.