Eventually, fossil fuels are gonna run out and we'll have to rely on new forms of awesome, next-gen energy.

But you kinda get the sense that maybe people are just rushing headlong too quickly without doing their homework first:

Despite selling its own cars and trucks at a successful clip, major U.S. automaker Ford reported significant revenue losses this week thanks to a risky investment into an electric vehicle company: Rivian.

In a press release issued this week, Ford reported $34.5 billion in revenue for the first quarter of 2022, marking a 5% decline relative to the same period last year and a net loss of $3.1 billion.

But had it not been for an ill-fated early investment in Rivian, a once-promising "electric adventure vehicle" startup, the Detroit automaker said its earnings from January to March of 2022 would have been $2.3 billion.

Just in case there were any doubt, Ford went ahead and spelled it out for us:

"A net loss of $3.1 billion was primarily attributable to a mark-to-market loss of $5.4 billion on the company's investment in Rivian," the company said in the press release.

$3.1 billion is...

To their credit, Ford isn't backing down from its own electric vehicle lineup:

The company has committed to reaching worldwide EV manufacturing capacity of at least 600,000 by the end of 2023, for which it's ramping up battery supplies, on the way to making more than two million EVs annually by the end of 2026.

EVs aren't yet 100% ready for prime time. But they'll get there. So it's a good thing that companies are funding the next generation of auto technology.

One day, eventually, we'll finally realize the dream of peak medium-distance transportation:

One can hope, anyway!

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