As unsold electric vehicles pile up on dealer lots and manufacturers announce production cuts after billion-dollar losses, President Joe Biden began to admit defeat for his clean energy agenda this month, directing the Environmental Protection Agency to roll back Clean Air Act regulations mandating two-thirds of all cars sold by 2032 must be electric vehicles.

It wasn’t supposed to be this way. Goosed by $7,500 federal tax credits, consumers were supposed to be buying electric vehicles in droves. Ford, for example, projected sales of 150,000 F-150 Lightnings in 2023. Instead, it sold just 24,000. That’s a lot of unwanted $60,000 vehicles.