Electric Vehicle (EV) Demand 🚘

The Super Bowl may have posted its worst viewer ratings in recent memory, but its commercial time continues to be fought-over real estate with a big price tag. In this year’s Super Bowl lineup of commercials, General Motors left an impression, promoting electric vehicles with Will Ferrell and other celebrities, not long after they shared their plans to shift to EV-only production by 2035. While Tesla still remains the most highly-regarded electric vehicle manufacturer, delivering just under 500,000 cars in 2020 alone, man other EV manufacturers are gaining traction.

Chinese competition
Chinese carmakers cannot be ignored when it comes to EV manufacturing. Chinese EV maker Nio said it delivered 7,000+ vehicles in January, four times the number in January the year before. So far, the proclaimed “Tesla of China” has already delivered 82,000 electric vehicles in total and its New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) trading is seeing growth on par with Tesla’s. Chinese rival Xpeng Motors also delivered 6,000+ electric cars in January, which is a record-breaking third month in a row for the company. It is also publicly traded on the NYSE.

Most environmentally friendly
Polestar, although a European company headquartered in Sweden, is owned by Volvo Cars which is an extension of Geely, a Chinese automobile holding company. The company has two car models, one hybrid and one sedan EV. It has gained a lot of media attention for becoming the first and only car manufacturing plant in China to achieve Gold status in the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system, making even the production of their cars, not just the cars, green.

SOURCE: FARADAY AND FUTURES

Private, going on public
Back on American soil, US-based startups are also fighting for a slice of the electric pie. Lucid Motors, Faraday and Future, and Byton are all electric vehicle startups based out of California (although the latter two have strong ties to Chinese ownership). Aside from the Golden State connection, they have all been rumored to be going or have announced plans to go public via SPAC this year.

Beyond consumer vehicles
Another electric vehicle manufacturer, Rivian Automotive, has been ramping up its retail presence in lieu of a consumer-targeted car. Rivian, however, has already been supplying Amazon with electric vans, which have hit the road in Los Angeles, to help male greener deliveries. 

Traffic ahead?
Demand for electric vehicles is certainly not slowing down, but challenges like semiconductor chip shortages are also halting production and could cause troubles ahead if chip production can meet the increasing demands.