While the EV boom has been growing for years, 2021 could be the year electric starts to take over everything. And it could happen much sooner than most people realize, as some of the biggest names are already hopping on board.
Amazon has already started making deliveries with electric vans in Los Angeles, as they’ve agreed to purchase 100,000 vans from EV startup, Rivian. The United States Postal Service just signed a 10-year, multi-billion dollar contract with Oshkosh Defense to produce thousands of electric mail trucks. And United Airlines just placed an incredible $1 billion order with EV manufacturer, Archer, for a fleet of electric air taxis.
Legacy automakers are all making the shift too, rolling out their line of electric vehicles one by one.
Ford is set to double their investment in EVs to $22 billion, and they’re planning to release their electric version of the Mustang and the F-150, the most popular vehicle in the U.S. Volkswagen is calling their 2021 electric crossover, the ID.4, “the most important new Volkswagen debut since the Beetle.” And General Motors has even announced they’ll stop making gas-powered vehicles altogether by 2035. Now, Biden has even announced plans to transition all government fleet vehicles to EVs.
This electric revolution has already led to monster gains for EV companies throughout 2020. The EV van startup, Workhorse, saw gains of over 551%…Tesla’s shares shot up a massive 740%…And Blink Charging soared for incredible 1,740% gains last year.
Here are a few other companies who could profit in the electric future:
Tesla (TSLA) is a company that has redefined the automotive industry with their electric cars. The Tesla Model S was one of the first fully electric vehicles on the market and it’s still one of the best. If you’re wondering if an all-electric car is right for you, read this blog post to learn more about what makes Tesla different from other EV manufacturers.
Tesla has been one of the hottest stocks on the market for the past two years. And that’s largely thanks to its CEO and hypeman, Elon Musk. As a visionary in the tech world, Musk built his empire on PayPal and then pivoted to a cause closer to his heart, Tesla. Musk has had his eye on prize long before the green energy hype started building. Tesla isn’t just about cars, however, it’s diving head first into the battery market, as well. And by extension, could completely transform renewable energy as we know it. Tesla’s battery technology is a game-changer because batteries will be the first big step towards decentralized electric grids, another innovation fueled by the dramatic rise of blockchain technology, another cause that Musk is passionate about.
NIO Limited (NIO) is another company that manufactures all-electric vehicles. The company’s headquarters are located in Shanghai, China and they have manufacturing facilities in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province; Pune, Maharashtra; Lancaster, California; Tilburg, Netherlands and San José dos Campos, São Paulo State. Nio was founded on September 12th 2015 by William Li. NIO has raised $1 billion since the start of their first round of funding back in 2014 with investors including Tencent Holdings Ltd., Temasek Holdings Pte. Ltd., Baidu Inc., Sequoia Capital as well as other prominent firms such as GIC Private Limited (formerly known as Government of Singapore Investment Corporation) and TPG Growth among others.
In addition to its automotive push, however, Nio, Tesla’s largest competitor in China, has also started to offer a batteries-as-a-service concept, in which car buyers can ‘lease’ the battery of their vehicle and save as much as $10,000 on the price of a new vehicle, while also offering buyers the option to swap batteries after a few years of use. And that’s huge news in the lithium world, because it will mean give miners even greater incentive to sign deals with the battery innovator.
General Motors (GM) just started a joint venture with Korea’s LG Chem to mass produce next-gen battery cells for electric vehicles, together investing $2.3 billion over the next few years. That’s not all its working on, either. In October, auto industry legend, GM announced that its majority-owned subsidiary, Cruise, has just received approval from the California DMV to test its autonomous vehicles without a driver. And while they’re not the first to receive such an approval, it’s still huge news for GM.
Cruise CEO Dan Ammann wrote in a Medium post, “Before the end of the year, we’ll be sending cars out onto the streets of SF — without gasoline and without anyone at the wheel. Because safely removing the driver is the true benchmark of a self-driving car, and because burning fossil fuels is no way to build the future of transportation.”
Ford (F) is one of the most recognized automakers in the world. In the late 1800s, Henry Ford transformed the automobile industry by creating a car that was affordable to most Americans. He also made it possible for people to buy their own cars with installment plans. This allowed for more people in America to have access to transportation and do things they couldn’t before such as travel farther distances or move away from home. Car ownership would eventually come with privileges like being able to vote, drive without restrictions, and make purchases without relying on others.
Ford is another Detroit automaker making the jump to EVs – and seeing shares jump in the process. They recently announced they’ll be boosting their spending on EVs to $27 billion through mid-decade. That big investment includes plans of their own to develop an electric cargo van and a plug-in version of their bestseller F-150 pickup truck.
Forward-Looking Statements
This publication contains forward-looking information which is subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ from those projected in the forward-looking statements.Â
