Is now the right time to invest in the US EV market?

Although the US is lagging behind regions such as China and the EU, there’s no denying that there is growing interest in manufacturing electric vehicles (EVs).

According to a 2021 report by the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT), approximately US$51bn of global automaker investments focused on EVs were bound for the US—representing 15% of the total. The US market is set to account for more than 10% of the forecast 22 million worldwide EV sales by 2025, with 16% of national OEMs to manufacture EVs exclusively by that same year. Of the seven existing EV manufacturing plants in the US, Tesla owns two, General Motors owns three, and both Rivian and Lucid Motors own one each.

However, despite some rapid progress over the last ten years, 2022 has already begun to exhibit weaknesses in the sector. Tesla has laid off over 200 workers from its Autopilot team, and CNBC reports that Rivian is considering losing 5% of its 14,000-strong workforce. Whether these actions are motivated by the respective companies simply growing faster than is sustainable or indicative of something inherently worse is unclear. Regardless, investors will have reasons to worry about EVs.