With Tesla taking the wheel, interest in electric vehicles sees the resurgence

The re-emergence of electric vehicle industry

Electric Vehicles came into existence in the early 19th century and became popular towards late 19th century. Post this, the preference for petroleum-based vehicles increased over the years. However, in the last 30 years, the ill-effects of fossil fuels and the rising oil-prices have led to the re-emergence of the electric vehicle industry. Many traditional automakers started developing electric vehicles powered by lead acid batteries in 1990s. This is where Tesla came in.

Tesla responded with better technology: the rise of battery powered cars

Tesla Motors responded with Li-ion battery powered cars and others followed suit. Tesla, an electric sports car manufacturer, was founded in 2003 and brought out its first all-electric model in 2008. Automakers such as Mitsubishi, Nissan, General Motors, BMW, Toyota, Mercedes and others started working on improved electric cars during this period and soon launched their own all-electric versions. The market started to pick up. A number of companies started working on developing advanced electric vehicles and the market saw the birth of companies like Fisker Automotive and Coda Automotive. Investors also started showing interest in the industry and funds starting pouring in.

Support infrastructure developed parallely

With the increase of electric vehicles in the market, the need for support infrastructure and solutions also saw a rise. This resulted in companies focusing on developing charging stations and infrastructure. A number of companies such as Car Charging Group, ChargePoint, Better Place and ECOtality were founded around 2006-2009. These companies raised significant funding over the next few years.

A small bump in the ride of electric vehicles industry

The years from 2011 to 2013 were the years of mixed emotions for the electric vehicle industries. On one hand, sales of electric vehicles were on a high while on the other some of the major players in this industry were facing financial troubles and shutting down their operations. Companies like Fisker Automotive, Coda Automotive and Think Global, three of the major electric car manufacturers went bankrupt after raising huge sums of money. The financial troubles were not only witnessed by the vehicle manufacturers but also by companies developing charging infrastructure and those developing electric vehicle components.

This was just a small bump in the ride of the electric vehicle industry. Along with the electric cars, the market saw the rise of companies focused on developing electric two-wheelers such as scooters and motorcycles. These companies have also seen high funding in the last 3 years.

Globally the sector is  being looked at with high potential

Last two to three years have seen investments from some large conglomerates in electric vehicle. Even renowned names from outside the electric vehicle industry have joined in and are actively supporting the growth of the industry :

• Panasonic Corporation invested in a $130M funding round in Gogoro, a Taiwan based electric scooter and battery-swapping infrastructure developer. Panasonic is the battery cell manufacturer for Gogoro. Gogoro is also backed by Dr. Samuel Yin, the Chairman of Ruentex Financial Group and Cher Wang, the Co-Founder, Chairwoman, CEO & President at HTC.
• LeEco (fka LeTV), a Chinese conglomerate, unveiled its concept car LeSEE a few days back. LeSEE is an all-electric autonomous car. LeEco has also partnered with Faraday Future, an upcoming electric car developer.
• Padmasree Warrior joins in as US CEO for NextEV, a Chinese electric car company which raised a $500M funding round in 2015. Padmasree Warrior was the Chief Technology & Strategy Officer at Cisco and before that CTO at Motorola. She also sits on the Board of companies like Microsoft, Box and Gap.

The industry is on a rise. Though, the recent oil-price crash of 2015 can be seen as a threat to the electric vehicle industry. However, it is expected to be short-lived and the oil-prices should stabilize in near future. A number of companies are being founded with an aim to develop sustainable transport solutions and significant interest has been shown by the investor community. This trend should continue in the coming years.

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