The spike in Tesla’s share prices in 2021 – eventually valuing the electric car maker past one trillion dollars – triggered an unprecedented wave of optimism towards EVs among the boardrooms of global car companies.
With the financial markets rewarding bold strategies that involved an early exit from combustion engines, car companies were happy to set bold targets.
Brands including Bentley, Cadillac, Ford, Lexus, Mercedes-Benz, Vauxhall and Volvo all laid out plans to go electric-only within the decade, either globally or within the more promising-looking markets, such as Europe.
Perhaps predictably, the sugar highs of the post-Covid EV stock market have now crashed back, as stakeholders are faced with the reality that EV sales growth is proving far lumpier than dreamed in those heady days.