Karoline Gore explores the current state of the EV market and the trends that have sparked its rise – and what this may portend for automated vehicles too.

The electric vehicle (EV) market is one that has an absolutely undeniable place in the future, but investment markets haven’t reflected that in value. According to experts providing comment in USA Today, Tesla saw a bear market in the early part of 2020, before striking upwards into their now sky-high value. A few key events have led to this surge, but they’ve now successfully started a trend. For a few key reasons, EVs have now established themselves as a bull market that will continue to rise – and big names are showing the way.

Big companies buy in

Tesla and their associated manufacturers are, of course, big names, but they lack a little bit of credibility as compared to the old-school big American auto houses. While EVs have an unassailable status as the future of the automotive market, it’s been a slow process to get these older manufacturers onboard. This has changed with the huge market intervention of GM, who have recently put $2 billion into EV production to up their share of the market. This has led to news outlets, including CNN, advocating an investment portfolio that looks into companies like GM – a sharp change from recent months; March saw their stock drop to a low not seen since before 2012. This type of disruption from the institutional auto manufacturers of the USA indicates the upwards trend and interest in the market; something which should only continue to become more relevant in a geopolitical sense.

Geopolitical movement

The Trump administration has been broadly opposed to green measures, whereas a Biden government has promised to become more climate-positive. Whatever the ultimate outcome of the election, there are indications that public opinion will keep moving forward in favour of green measures. According to the BBC, areas of industry and energy production have continued to grow where they favour green measures, and shrink in areas where they rely on fossil fuels and processes harmful to the environment. This points towards a future where society is dictating what products they want, and that’s a good one for EVs – especially when considering their logical, efficient endpoint.

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The automated revolution

EVs will ultimately give way to automated vehicles. There are already plenty of models on the market that achieve 1 and 2 stage automation, meaning that the driver still has most control, with stage 3 being absolute control by the computer of the vehicle. This is the logical place where EVs will move to in the future, and offers huge benefits for business. Businesses as huge as Walmart have already invested heavily in the technology, given the benefits it can bring to the bottom line. As a result, automation can only grow, and putting money into the industry will only yield returns as the years go on.

For that reason, this form of investing favours a long-term view. That being said, it’s a good time to start getting involved – before huge gains are made by the big auto houses and the industry is swamped.