Global transport is changing at breakneck speed, rushing to meet the demands of global warming. Electric cars – unheard of just five years ago – are now almost everywhere, while ships and aircraft are increasingly looking to move to hydrogen power. Below we look at the top five stocks powering the future of mobility.
|
Rolls-Royce (London: RR) |
Rolls-Royce is a byword for quality. Whether its aeroplane engines or its premium cars, it’s a brand name with serious connotations, but Rolls-Royce is increasingly moving into other more futuristic areas, like luxury electric cars. Rolls-Royce have announced they will go fully electric by 2030—bringing much of the ultra-premium end of the car market with it. Perhaps more interestingly, Rolls-Royce also recently built the world’s fastest all-electric plane. |
|
Tesla (Nasdaq: TSLA) |
The first and last name in the future of driving—Tesla is more than just a car maker. It is also a battery company; a self-driving software business; an Uber challenger; clean energy company; a robotics company; and space company, thanks to the link with SpaceX. It’s hard to think of another business that rolls so many future themes into one. With its revenue growing at 50% a year, its order book full, and its competitors unable to sell electric cars profitably, the company can justify a high valuation. |
|
BYD (Shenzhen: 002594) |
China’s competitor to Tesla, BYD makes electric cars and makes them cheap. It holds a near monopoly position in electric car taxis within China. It also makes other kinds of electric powered vehicles, including forklifts and bikes. Increasingly, it has been branching out into other parts of clean energy too – such as solar panels. Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway owns a 25% stake. |
|
Pilbara Minerals (ASX: PLS) |
You cannot have electric cars without batteries, and you cannot have batteries without lithium, and additionally you cannot have lithium without lithium miners. Simple as that. Here, Pilbara, the Western Australian lithium specialist, has been a global success story. Thanks for surging demand for batteries and electric cars, Pilbara’s revenue doubled from 2019 to 2020, and then it doubled again from 2020 to 2021. Surging revenue, and its inclusion in the ASX 200 in March, have helped its share price shoot up 213% year-to-date |
|
Samsung (Korea: 005930) |
The Korean giant makes pretty much everything in its home country—from microwaves to shipping. They even make ETFs, but most crucially, Samsung is one of the largest semiconductor and battery companies in the world. The world’s premiere memory chip makers, its chips are being used by car makers to help power self-driving software, which requires a lot of computer power. While its batteries are also being added to electric vehicles. |
Access via ACDC
For those wishing to invest in the future of mobility, the ETFS Battery Tech & Lithium ETF (ASX Code: ACDC) offers one solution. It invests in the battery technology and lithium mining supply chain, which crucially includes electric cars. It holds all the stocks above.
