So, Who Will Win the EV Race?

As you know, I fairly heavily invested in electric car company, Rivian, when it IPO'd recently, and continued to add shares after my initial investment. I have slowed my pace down, basically considering I probably have enough shares for now, and because my higher focus is on dividends in other companies, I just wanted to devote more of my investment dollars to upfront income.

I invested in Rivian mostly because I saw something in that company that I did not see in other EV companies. Including Tesla. I just happen to think Rivian presents more opportunity and have written about my thoughts here in the past.

For one, they are selling the driving experience, which I think is an important distinction to make. Successful automakers sell cars, of course. So, it just makes sense.

A company like Tesla does not necessarily attract your typical car buyer. Instead, people are buying the technology.

So far, I have not made any decision to liquidate my investment into Rivian. I still believe it has a strong place in the EV space—even if its cars alone don't necessarily become the "fashionable" thing for them, certainly there is strong enough reason to believe that maybe the market Rivian corners is the commercial one.

Their relationship with Amazon is a fine example of where I am going with my thinking. Those delivery vans Rivian is making for Amazon is a big deal provided they perform well and that Rivian can deliver on their promises.

I think they can. Even despite some short-term hiccups they have faced so far.

Plus, Amazon is not only a buyer of the vans. Amazon is also a major investor in the company, with no sign of pulling any of that investment out.

But when it comes to EV overall, there is going to of course be a winner when all is said and done. It's not going to be Tesla. It's not even going to be Rivian. So, who do I think wins the race and gets the bigger prize?

Ford Motor Company.

Yes. It is true that all automakers are going electric. But none of the other companies have the goods, so to speak. In other words, Ford has one huge advantage if you think about it. It is one vehicle that stands above the rest that I think is a complete game changer in the EV market.

The Ford F-150 pickup truck. And more importantly, the Ford F-150 Lightning electric version of that truck.

The thing is that the Ford F-series trucks are the best selling trucks in America, and have been for four decades. That truth is not going to change any time soon. Ford has always had the truck market, and I think Ford always will.

And it's not just the personal driver who buys Ford trucks. It's businesses as well that buy them. From construction companies to mining companies to all sorts of other types of businesses.

Ford F-series trucks are in their fleets.

Regardless of where gas prices ultimately go, for sure the electric vehicle market will continue to be a thing. And if companies feel that there is a cost savings to replacing their gas trucks with electric ones, they are going to do it. And there's no reason to switch the brand.

The commercial side is also more practical until the full spectrum of charging stations can be realized. Companies would likely be using their electrified trucks for shorter distances, so all they would have to do is have a few charging stations on site and they could keep those trucks on the road indefinitely.

But of course, I talked about the driving experience when I discussed Rivian. Here and in previous articles. And I still think the driving experience is key. No matter what self-driving technology gets introduced, I think ultimately most people still want to actually drive cars.

The F-150 Lightning notwithstanding, Ford also introduced its Mach-E Mustang with great fanfare. It is practical, useful, and it performs. Plus, let's face it. The Mach-E just looks awesome. It's an impressive vehicle to look at.

It's ten times more impressive than anything Tesla has ever put out.

The other notable thing is that Ford is still a streamlined company compared to all of the others. Back when the Big Three were having all sorts of financial woes, for which the U.S. government had to bail the other two out, Ford remained strong and never had to take dime from the government.

During that time Ford also made the decision to unload other brands it owned and just focus in on what they were good at. Ford and Lincoln.

They divested from Mazda and sold off brands like Land Rover and Jaguar and just went to work making the best cars they could under the Blue Oval and Lincoln emblems.

As they enter more into the EV market, this strategy puts them miles ahead of the competition, including Tesla and Rivian. Because without having to manage several models and brands in their portfolio, they can devote more money and time on developing the technology to make their cars go better—and they can more directly home in on something else very important.

Styling.

It has never been a secret that Ford simply knows how to make cars people want. They have been doing this for years. Despite hiccups back in the 1970's of course, that all U.S. automakers faced, I think Ford has been the one automaker to best reposition itself as a major player in the auto industry.

This is not to say that the entire EV market is not going to be tight and full of competition. But to me it just seems Ford has more to deliver across the board, from personal use to commercial use that people and businesses are going to want.

Ford is positioned, in my opnion, better than any other automaker to be the one who comes out on top. I even think Ford can once again maintain a #1 position against at least the Big Three, and that means their stock is dirt cheap right now, with tons of potential upside not seen in years.

Ford's stock has been undervalued for years. I think EV changes that for them.

Lead image courtesy of Pixabay, user Joenomias. Car Electric Hybrid - Free photo on Pixabay