Long-term Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) investors are very happy. In 2010, shares traded just above the $1 mark. Today, Tesla stock is priced above $420. An initial investment of a few thousand dollars would have turned into more than $1 million.
This success has caused many investors to look for the next big electric vehicle stock. But finding the next Tesla has proven extremely difficult. In the past 10 years, more than 30 EV companies have gone under. Tesla, it seems, has been the exception to the rule.
There’s a trick to finding the next Tesla, however. Using that trick, it’s become possible to identify one EV stock about to reach a critical growth catalyst in 2026.
To understand how Tesla became the giant it is, it’s important to first understand why so many EV companies have gone under in the past decades. Put simply, this is a capital-intensive business. It requires billions of dollars, plus many years of patience, to create a car company from scratch. Huge amounts of infrastructure needs to be built in order to manufacture the vehicles themselves. But there’s also reams of regulations and approvals that are required before production begins. Electric vehicles are also significantly more tech-focused, requiring software and hardware integrations that conventional vehicles don’t need to contend with.
It can be difficult to find investors willing to invest billions of dollars at a loss for a decade or more just to see whether an EV start-up can produce cars that people like, nevertheless cars that can be produced en masse at a suitable profit. The immense potential of an EV business has attracted many newcomers. But the smallest misstep can cause investors to worry and pull back — a death knell for a business that requires a consistent stream of fresh capital to turn its vision into reality.
It’s no wonder, then, the only a handful of pure-play EV companies today actually have vehicles on the roads. Today, Tesla sells nearly 2 million vehicles per year. Most of its EV competitors, at least in the U.S., manage to produce only a tiny…
..
