Research Overview

The rising demand for cleaner vehicles to mitigate the effects of climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions pushes governments at federal and state levels and city municipals in North America and Europe to move quickly toward policies favoring electric vehicle (EV) adoptions. Major European cities are forecast to ban diesel vehicle entry by 2030 to 2035. Many large companies with private fleets have internal mandates to reduce carbon emissions to make their companies carbon neutral in the next 10 to 20 years. Amazon, Walmart, UPS, DHL, FedEx, and IKEA are some international conglomerates leading the way.

Frost & Sullivan projects the emergence of new opportunities and more demand for greener powertrain alternatives in the 2020s. The most prominent opportunities will be in battery electric technology to expedite the adoption of cleaner and more sustainable last-mile mobility. Battery prices have fallen steeply over the last decade and are expected to decline even further in the next five to 10 years. Prices of motors, power electronics, inverters, and other electrical components have also decreased considerably. Recently, numerous new participants have entered the EV space, attracted by the vast potential in volume and conducive business cases for early electrification adoption.

Many new companies are start-ups building commercial EVs from scratch. Hence, they introduce new and dedicated platforms for electrification that make the vehicle highly efficient. Some of the top start-ups in this space are Arrival, Tesla, Rivian, Lion Electric, Hyzon Motors, Volta Trucks, Electric Last Mile Solutions (ELMS), and Nikola Motors. These companies are anticipated to play a significant role in transforming the commercial vehicle (CV) industry toward an electric ecosystem.