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Which Electric Vehicle Start-ups Will Survive?
The electric vehicle market has been flooded with start-ups. So which ones are for real and which ones aren’t?
The success of Tesla has inspired a variety of hopeful imitators; companies hoping they can reproduce the formula that has led Tesla to become the most highly valued company in the world. However, while starting a new company is difficult in any industry, it’s particularly risky in the automotive industry.
In the early days of EVs, two start-ups emerged hoping to shake up the car industry. The Department of Energy awarded Tesla a valuable loan that rescued the company before it began mass production. While few remember now, there was a second upstart electric vehicle (EV) company that also received a loan: Fisker Automotive. After producing less than 2,500 plug-in hybrids, Fisker went bankrupt, defaulting on its loan in the process. So which of these hopeful start-ups are likely to become successful, and which are more likely to fail?
Top Start-ups
Fisker Inc.
Interestingly enough, the ghost of Fisker Automotive has returned, this time branded as Fisker Inc. Despite failure on the first attempt, Fisker Inc. may yet prove succesful. The company’s namesake Henrik Fisker…