It’s not a question of if, rather it’s a question of when.
Some argue that electric vehicles will not work in Australia for a variety of reasons. Many of these reasons are valid, infrastructure, the vastness of our country and the environmental impact of producing electric cars.
All of these angles do spark debate but none can deny there will come a day where the electric car will make the internal combustion engine obsolete.
Testla harnessed the early adopters and paved the way for many more.
Here is a list of five new manufacturers looking lily to break into the European and or American market in the next twelve to twenty four months. Once there you can guarantee (if they are profitable and successful) that we will be seeing them in Australia soon enough.
VinFast
VinFast is a Vietnamese automaker with headquarters in Singapore. It’s the first brand from the company to sell in other countries. A spokesman from Vinfast stated that they are aiming to take on the US market next year with a goal of “dozens” of dealerships in the USA by the end of 2022. (he did not clarify if this was the calendar year or financial year)
The Company intends to introduce a unique price structure that separates the cost of the vehicle its self from the battery unit.
Fisker
Henrik Fisker, the guy who designed the BMW Z8 and the Austin Martin DB9, didn’t have the best luck with his first self-named automotive company in the 2000s. Its not all been success and glory for old Henrik, he has more failure under his belt than successes. Always the entrepreneur, Henrik is back with another company bearing his name, though this time it’s sleek electric vehicles he’s designing. The Fisker Ocean will be first out of the gate and is expected to start production in late 2022, and it’s expected to be followed by A vehicle called the Pear.
Canoo
These cars look as ridiculous as its name sounds, but that uniqueness has made the company hard to forget. That said, Canoo has had its share of management disputes and challenges getting products off the ground. The automaker plans to release a van, a pickup truck, and a boxy delivery van that looks like it’s made from Legos. Canoo’s van and truck feature a unique cab-over design that places the driver and front passenger over the front axle rather than behind it. The look is similar to old-school semi-trucks and school buses and is unlike anything else on the road. It will be interesting to see how this fair in the cash test stages. Something tells me they may not tick the required boxes.
DeLorean
DeLorean is back, this time as an electric carmaker, however this time its almost a super car look. The company’s Alpha5 is a four-seat car with two gulping doors. That is to say they open vertically like wings. DeLorean promises a responsive and gutsy vehicle with talk for figures like a 2.99-second 0-60 mph time, a top speed of 155 mph, and a range of more than 300 miles per charge
INDI
INDI is a US car manufacturer operating out of Southern California. The company’s initial offering is a vehicle that looks dangerously similar to things Teslar have released and is lily to end them in some sort of dispute with Teslar if they pursue this design.
Indi seems to be more focused on in car entertainments and have tailored this car for the video gamer in all of us. It boasts a decent Windows gaming computer beneath a transparent hood, but it opens the door for all sorts of apps and software.
The vehicle also features two 15-inch displays and brings gaming to automotive market.
New electric car companies already selling in America:
The brands above are all slated to hit the market within the next couple of years. But there are already several new players in the electric car space.
Rivian
Rivian currently sells two vehicles in America, the R1T pickup and the R1s Which is a ute. Both of these electric vehicles look great, boast impressive specs and are in high demand.
Polestar
Unlike other startup electric car companies, Polestar isn’t really a new thing. There’s history behind it and a solid corporate foundation underfoot. Polestar was previously to Volvo what AMG is to Mercedes, a separate high-performance tuning firm eventually brought under the corporate wing. And while range-topping Volvos today wear the “Polestar Engineered” badge, the name has been applied to a new, all-electric, performance-oriented luxury brand. Its engineering and design facilities are adjacent to Volvo’s in Gothenburg, Sweden, while Polestar cars are made in China, home to its parent company, Geely.
Lucid
Lucid may be an all-new company building electric cars, but its first product, the Lucid Air, is extremely impressive. In fact, the Lucid Air compares favorably with such established brands as Merceds, Tesla and Porsche. The Air has plenty of power (over 1,000 horsepower in high-end models) and range, and it’s very expensive. In fact, it’s pricier than the Mercedes, Tesla and Porsche models it competes against. Unfortunately it just looks like a cheap Hyundai.
Existing Brands
Though we’re here talking about fresh faces in the automotive industry, we can’t ignore the legacy automakers, many of which will convert to partially electric brands by the end of the decade. Hyundai, Mercedes-Benz, and others have created strong sub-brands within their overall catalogs focusing exclusively on electric vehicle development and production. Nearly every major manufacturer has committed to shifting at least a portion of their production capacity to EVs. So, while there will be no shortage of new EV companies to talk about, the tried-and-true automakers may start to look a lot like the newbies in the near future.
