You may have heard about the “internet-of-things”...
It’s all around us.
From your smartphone to any number of connected devices you may have laying around the house.
It’s forecast that over 64 billion devices will be connected to the internet in just a few years’ time…in a market that’s expected to grow over $2.4 trillion annually by 2027.
Still, that number is going to continue to climb.
And nowhere is the impact of this new technology more apparent than in the automotive industry.
With the introduction of 5G networks, the potential for new innovations in transportation is enormous.
Already you can order a cab with the click of a button...
Or hop on a bicycle parked on your street corner…
But what’s next? And how will the emergence of the tech that’s already in development change the way we get around?
This is where companies like Facedrive (TSX:FD.V; OTCMKTS:FDVRF) are looking to gain an edge over the competition.
They’ve already re-imagined ride-sharing, providing a cutting edge carbon-offset alternative to the giants of the industry, Uber and Lyft…
But now they’re looking to challenge the notion of car ownership as we know it.
Teslas “On Demand”
With Facedrive’s acquisition of Steer, a subscription-based electric vehicle business, you can now order a Tesla, Porsche, or Audi EV that will be personally delivered directly to you with leases as short as 1 month.
Not only does this mean you can enjoy the quality and luxury of these top-tier brands, but you can also drive a fully-insured electric vehicle when you want it, without having to worry about an asset that loses most of its value as soon as you drive it off the lot.
This simple concept effectively allows users the ability to lease any number of vehicles without committing to - or paying an outrageous upfront cost for - one specific car.
And this is an important move….
The younger generations just aren’t interested in owning….things they can easily get without owning.
Subscription services have taken over most everything. From fashion and hygiene to media consumption... And even housing.
The new generations want convenience, freedom, and variety.
This is why Facedrive’s acquisition is so well-timed…
We’ve already seen the headlines …
“Millennials Turn Their Back On Car Ownership”
“Millennials Say They'd Give Up Their Cars Before Their Computers or Cell Phones”
“The Reasons Why Millennials Aren't As Car Crazed As Baby Boomers”
And Facedrive saw this coming a mile away.
Now, all you need to do is open up the Steer App and pick which luxury electric vehicle you’d like to take out for a spin.
It is not just transforming the idea of car ownership…
It’s paving the way for what is to come.
The Crossroads Of Two Multi-Trillion Dollar Trends
Data has already replaced oil as the world’s most valuable asset, but what comes next will kick the tech revolution into high gear.
Do you remember when GPS was a cutting edge piece of technology, limited to only the newest, and most-high-end vehicles?
Now 98% of new cars hitting the road in 2020 have internet connectivity.
This is important because of the tremendous amount of data that is flowing from each and every one of these new vehicles.
This data will help improve the consumer experience in ways we cannot yet imagine.
Not only will we be able to reduce traffic…
We’ll be able to slash accident rates and even improve comfort within the vehicle.
But most significantly, it’s the first step towards completely autonomous vehicles.
And this is why early-movers in the automotive data scene like Facedrive (TSX:FD.V; OTCMKTS:FDVRF) could win big in the coming years.
From Your Smartphone To Your Door
If you thought ride-sharing was revolutionary…
Think about what’s next.
What was only a sci-fi dream a few years ago could soon be our reality.
We’ve all imagined of future where we would hop into our self-driving car and read a book or watch our favorite series on the way to work…
But what if we don’t have to even own the car?
Why in the world would we voluntarily go out and purchase a Tesla and absorb all of the financial responsibilities that come with that…
When we could just whip out our smartphone and within minutes, an autonomous luxury vehicle would pick us up from wherever we are?
This is part of the reason we think Facedrive’s plan is so brilliant.
Its carbon-offset ride-sharing business is already turning heads…
And with the introduction of its Steer subscription-based luxury electric vehicle service, it’s positioned itself perfectly as a front-runner in this futuristic transportation market…
A market that may wind up arriving faster than expected.
Though tremendous progress has already been made towards self-driving vehicles, there’s still a ways to go.
There are regulatory hurdles, negative public perception, and a few technological barriers still in the way.
But that doesn’t mean they aren’t coming. And the 5G revolution will be the first catalyst.
Jeremy Carlson, an autonomy analyst with auto-industry research firm IHS Markit explained, “With a better and more robust network, you’ll have longer detection ranges for other vehicles and incidents and have lots of different types of information pumped into the system,” adding, “There’s real value there in terms of how it can make driving better and more efficient.”
And he’s not wrong.
As Big Data, the internet of things, and a transportation revolution converge, a whole new realm of possibilities will emerge in what we can do, how we can do it, and how it will transform our world for the better.
Smartphones are already more powerful than vintage supercomputers that took up entire rooms just a few decades ago…
And technology is only moving faster and faster.
Innovative young companies like Facedrive (TSX:FD.V; OTCMKTS:FDVRF) see this…
And are ready to help roll out the green-powered autonomous transportation of the future.
Other companies looking to transform the EV sector:
Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) is the talk of Wall Street right now. It seems like nothing can stop it as it inches closer and closer to the trillion dollar mark. ever. It is now worth almost $660 billion while the top three American automakers--GM, Ford and Chrysler—are barely a fraction of that.
Visionary Elon Musk had his eye on prize long before the hype started building. In fact, ee released the first Tesla Roadster back in 2008, making electric vehicles cool when people were laughing at first-gen electric vehicles. Since then, Tesla’s stock has skyrocketed by over 14,000%. And it’s not just about cars, either. Musk is looking towards a much bigger picture, building the foundation for an electrified future on all fronts. Right now, though, all the hype is following his cars. Even better for Musk, and shareholders, Tesla is set to be bumped up into the S&P 500 this month. But while Tesla’s EV threat to the industry is clear, the competition is heating up in China.
Just a year ago, no one could have imagined how successful the NIO Limited (NYSE:NIO) was going to be. In fact, many shareholders were ready to write off their losses and give up on the company. But China’s answer to Tesla’s dominance powered on, eclipsed estimates, and most importantly, kept its balance sheet in line. And it’s paid off. In a big way. The company has seen its share price soar from $3.24 at the start of 2020 to a high of $50 earlier this month, representing a massive 1443% returns for investors who held strong.
In November, NIO unveiled a pair of vehicles that would make even the biggest Tesla devotees truly contemplate their brand loyalty. The vehicles, meant to compete with Tesla’s Model 3, could be exactly what the company needs to take control of its domestic market.
By NIO’s fourth quarter report in October, the company announced that its sales had more-than doubled, projecting even greater sales in 2021. The EV up-and-comer has shocked investors and pulled itself back after its rumored potential bankruptcy in 2019, and if this year shows investors anything, it’s that its CEO William Li is as skilled and ambitious as anyone in the business.
Li Automotive (NASDAQ:LI) is the newest Chinese electric vehicle darling. Founded just five years ago by Li Xiang, and backed by domestic investment giants giants Meituan and Bytedance, Li has taken a different approach to the electric vehicle market. Li specializes in plug-in hybrid vehicle. This means it can be powered by electricity or gasoline, or a mixture of both, giving customers a wider array of fueling options compared to its competitors. Its fashionable crossover SUV has been a hit in China, and thanks to its success, its garnered a lot of investor interest.
Since going public on the NASDAQ in July, the company has seen its share price more than double. Especially in the past month. It’s already worth more than $30 billion but many are saying that it is just getting started. With estimates suggesting that there could be as many as 125 million electric vehicles on the road in the next ten years, and a growing call to ban gasoline powered cars, companies like Li are sure to grow exponentially.
XPeng Motors (NYSE:XPEV) is another newcomer in the booming electric vehicle market. Though it only recently went public in the U.S., it’s taken the market by storm. Riding on the coattails of the success of Tesla and NIO, it has carved out its own demand, especially among the younger generation of traders looking for the next big company to blow. Since its NYSE debut in August, the ambitious electric vehicle company has risen by more than 157% thanks to its promising financials and growing demand for its stylish vehicles.
And retail investors aren’t the only ones showing interest in this EV newcomer. Xpeng has also garnered a ton of interest from Big Money. Earlier in 2020 the company raised over half a billion dollars from giants like Aspex, Coatue, Hillhouse Capital and Sequoia Capital China. Recently, Xpeng has even secured another $400 million from heavy hitters such as Alibaba, Qatar Investment Authority and Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund Mubadala.
As the demand for electric vehicles continues to grow, newcomers like Xpeng provide an excellent opportunity for investors to jump on this undeniable trend even if the missed out on Tesla’s meteoric rise to glory.
Automakers aren’t the only ones benefitting from the electric vehicle hype, either. Blink Charging (NASDAQ:BLNK), an electric vehicle infrastructure company, has seen its stock price skyrocket by over 1200% in 2020, and it’s just getting started. In addition to a number of bullish catalysts growing in the market, such as President-Elect promising to drastically increase electric vehicle infrastructure in the United States, Blink is a master at securing deals.
A high-profile deal between Blink and Envoy Technologies to deploy electric vehicles and charging stations will likely send the company’s share price even higher. Aric Ohana, CEO of Envoy noted, “We’re excited to work with Blink on the deployment of their fast Level 2 charging stations as part of our exclusive electric car-sharing service. The vision of our two companies is aligned: to advance the adoption of electric vehicles. To continue to drive the growth and success across our expanding locations, we have to ensure that our clients have easy and efficient access to high-quality, reliable charging equipment. Blink has an established reputation as an innovator in the EV market, and we are thrilled to add them as a preferred partner.”
Canada is not likely to be left out of this boom, either. GreenPower Motor (TSX:GPV) is an exciting company that produces larger-scale electric transportation. Right now, it is primarily focused on the North American market, but the sky is the limit as the pressure to go green grows. GreenPower has been on the frontlines of the electric movement, manufacturing affordable battery-electric busses and trucks for over ten years. From school busses to long-distance public transit, GreenPower’s impact on the sector can’t be ignored.
Year-to-date, GreenPower Motor has seen its share price soar from $2.03 to a yearly high of $28.45. That means investors have seen 1300% gains since the beginning of the year. And with this red-hot sector only gaining traction, GreenPower has a lot of room to run. .
NFI Group (TSX:NFI) is another one of Canada’s premier electric bus producers. Though it has not yet rebounded from January highs, NFI still offers investors a promising opportunity to capitalize on the electric vehicle boom at a discount. In addition to its increasingly positive financial reports, it is also one of the few in the business that actually pay dividends out to its investors. This is huge because it gives investors an opportunity to gain exposure to this booming industry while the stock is cheap and hold steady until the market finally discovers this gem.
Westport Fuel Systems (TSX:WPRT) is a unique way to get in on the green boom in the auto-industry.. It helps build the tools needed for carmakers to incorporate less damaging fuels like natural gas. Though natural gas doesn’t get quite the attention as electric vehicles do,, there are over 22.5 million natural gas vehicles on the road across the globe. And that market is expected to grow as the energy transition really takes off.
Speaking of the energy transition, Canadian companies are winning big in this realm as well. Telecom giant Shaw Communications Inc (TSE:SJR.B) is a great example. Shaw is taking a leadership role among Canadian companies in its use of renewable energy. Though its telecom business is its primary focus, it’s betting big on the energy transition as well, holding stake in renewable projects across the country. In fact, it is one of the biggest customers of Bullfrog Power which sources its electricity from a blend of wind energy and hydropower.
BCE Inc. (TSX:BCE) is a stable in Canada. Everyone knows the company and knows what it is about. For the past 25 years, BCE has been at the forefront of the environmental movement. Their environmental management system (EMS) has been certified to be ISO 14001-compliant since 2009. Throughout its push into the position of one of Canada’s top telco groups, it has bought and sold a number of different firms. That’s great news for the company and its investors.
By. Scott Reynolds
