True story…
In 2008, Elon Musk had to raise close to $10M to cover the legal expenses incurred as a result of suing Henrik Fisker, CEO of Fisker Automotive. The lawsuit alleged Fisker stole ideas from TSLA, mainly the design for a sedan with the code name “Whitestar.”
Cut to 2021, TSLA has a market cap of $635.1B and FSR $4.69B.
Since 2008, the barriers to entry for the electrical vehicle space crumbled.
To give you a sense of the magnitude, as of January, there are 40 electrical vehicles available from 20 different manufacturers.
Compare that to a decade ago when the Chevy Volt and Nissan Leaf were the hot topics alongside hybrids like the Toyota Prius and Honda Insight.
Ahh Leo and his clunky old Prius
It’s no wonder General Motors took the step of going fully electric by 2035.
Mary Bara, CEO of GM said in a LinkedIn message, ““For General Motors, our most significant carbon impact comes from tailpipe emissions of the vehicles that we sell — in our case, it’s 75 percent…that is why it is so important that we accelerate toward a future in which every vehicle we sell is a zero-emissions vehicle.”
While stalwart car manufacturers like GM plant stakes firmly in the EV landscape, Chinese companies like NIO and XPEV have been slowly taking market share in the United States.
How much of an impact have they had so far?
On Friday, Tesla reported it delivered 184,800 vehicles last quarter, up 109% from last year and smashing expectations. Meanwhile, Nio (NIO) TSLA’s top rival reported sales of 20,060 units. Xpeng (XPEV) reported 13,340, and Li Auto’s (LI) came in at 12,579.
With numbers like that, advisors took note. According to our TrackStar data, here are the top searches for EVs:
The takeaways:
- GM is serious about electrical vehicles. The company plans to be completely EV by 2035.
- NIO and XPEV are TSLA’s biggest Chinese rivals. Both companies reported the sale of 20,060 units and 13,340 units last quarter.
- TSLA reported the sale of 184,800 vehicles, up 109% YoY.
- Elon Musk and Henrik Fisker are rivals.
- TLSA’s market cap is 635.1B vs FSR at 4.69B
Questions to anticipate from your clients:
- Is TSLA a good long term play given how saturated the market is getting re: EVs?
- Are holding Chinese companies like NIO and XPEV in my portfolio risky given the geopolitics of China and the US?
- What other major car manufacturers are producing EVs? Does F have plans to also go completely EV in the near future?
The EV space is starting to get white hot. And with companies giving Tesla competition, infrastructure plans and tax credits favoring EV manufacturers and demand being driven up, a trip to the gas station may be a relic of the past sooner than we think!