There are many electric car startups working on ways to combat electric vehicle market pains such as range anxiety and charging time. They all play a key role in the construction of the city of the future. A city shaped by IoT, or smart mobility (with shared mobility, autonomous vehicles or Mobility as a Service.)

While electric vehicles are constantly innovating there are many new electric car startup companies that are well on their way to navigating through some of these concerns. 

GBatteries

The first electric car startup that is paving the way in the sustainable transportation market is GBatteries. 

This company produces advanced battery technology that is backed up by some of the world’s leading investors including Airbus Ventures, Initialized Capital, SV Angel, and Y Combinator. Their company has created a battery that can recharge an electric car as quickly as it takes to fill up a tank of gas. 

What’s unique?

GBatteries is one of the first electric car startups to address a large market pain in electric car industry. They created a unique technology that is a “combination of software algorithms (AI) and electronics, that works with off-the-shelf Li-ion batteries that have already been validated, tested, and produced by battery manufacturers.” 

Their product allows its customers a 60kWh EV battery pack with 119 miles of range in 5 minutes. This is compared to normal charging range such as 15 miles in 5 minutes. GBatteries manages this by setting a very specific charging model that “slows down” and “speeds up” the charge as necessary. This allows the charge to go much faster than a normal charging session. 

Tank Two

The second electric car startup is Tank Two, which was founded in 2012. 

Tanktwo is a Finnish-American startup that has dedicated its resources to improving the performance of electric vehicles by working with other industries within the battery space. 

What’s unique?

One unique aspect of Tanktwo is that the company uses mobile inspiration, internet routing and consumer electronics industries while also utilizing data-driven methods to ensure that the batteries they produce are able to function at a much higher performance than any other batteries.

TuSimple

The third electric car startup is TuSimple which has brought one of the first self-driving trucks to the supply chain market. Through the initiatives of the company, their goal is to increase safety, decrease transportation costs and reduce carbon emissions. 

What’s unique?

TuSimple was initially a self-driving truck startup that was able to reach a “unicorn status”  in 2019 giving it a 1 billion dollar valuation. 

The company recently announced that they have been given the opportunity to participate in a two-week pilot that will consist of five round trips carrying USPS trailers for more than 1,000 miles between Dallas and Phoenix. This pilot will consist of a safety coordinator in order to ensure that the process runs safely and smoothly. If the pilot is successful TuSimple has the opportunity to completely shift the electric vehicle marketplace. 

Rivian

The fourth electric car startup is Rivian, which is another company paving the way through the electric vehicle marketplace. They were founded in 2009 with the intent of developing vehicles, products and services with the universal goal of creating a more eco-friendly and sustainable transportation company. 

What’s unique?

In 2015 they received a large investment allowing them to expand their company to Michigan and the Bay area. Through this investment and company expansion, Rivian began building an “entire ecosystem” of sustainable vehicles. 

With these possibilities, they have also begun entering the “ride-sharing and driverless car markets.” These potential avenues will continue to bring new and unique developments to the autonomous vehicle marketplace.

EasyMile 

The fifth electric car startup is EasyMile. The EZ10 is a battery-powered autonomous electric bus designed and marketed by EasyMile. EZ10 was founded in June 2014 and EasyMile SAS develops and markets these autonomous vehicles. 

It was originally developed with the help of CityMobil2, a project that has been co-funded by the EU’s Seventh Framework Program for research and technology development. 

What’s unique?

This unique autonomous bus system seats up to six people and allows four more passengers to ride standing, or can accommodate a wheelchair. The goal of this bus is to help bridge the first mile/last mile of a trip. EZ10 has been implemented in more than 30 cities and 16 countries.

AEV Robotics

The sixth electric car startup is AEV Robotics, an Australian robotics company working with creating a pod-based system to help transport people and items. 

The construction is relatively flat, otherwise known as the skateboard construction. This allows you to mount various other structures on “pods” for taxis, vans, etc. The modular solution is created based on a floor platform that enabled the battery to contain an electric motor and other vehicle technology. 

What’s unique?

The idea is established through creating a modular solution that is used through a floor platform containing the battery, the electric motors and the other vehicle technology. 

As of now, the Australians can choose a battery capacity between 15 or 30 kWh that lasts throughout the entire day. AEV robotics has developed a robotic base that is controlled through a programmable interface. Each base is an electric four-wheel steer. On top of the base sits the revolutionary AEV “pod.” This pod system has limitless potential in the technology industry. AEV has conceptualized many different pods that are able to sit on their base which can consist of people-moving spaces to delivery vans, grocery stores etc. There are other companies that are paving the way in this market such as Intelligent Dynamic Driving Chassis, which offers a flexible platform for autonomous electric vehicles. Additionally, last year Toyota also presented a vision of mobility for the future of the e-Palette concept vehicle.

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