Just as the Stone Age didn’t end because we ran out of stones, the oil age won't end because we run out of oil. Instead, it’s the shift in demand that’s driving change, and with battery costs now reaching $70 per kilowatt hour in China, the inevitability of electrification is undeniable. The transition to EVs will have different dynamics in different countries. In some parts of the world, ICE vehicles, hybrids, and EVs will co-exist for a while. In other geographies, the shift from ICE to EVs will be very rapid.
For venture capitalists, there are many exciting opportunities within the EV ecosystem. At
Autotech Ventures, we’re looking to capitalize on the EV transition without locking our money into new battery chemistries or battery-producing factories. Instead, we're double-clicking on the EV aftermarket, battery management systems, and the commoditization of charging infrastructure.
EV Aftermarket
With a tsunami of EVs coming out of warranty, we believe that a parallel aftermarket ecosystem for EVs has to be created. We started deploying capital in this domain in 2023 and continued investments in 2024.
Plug is innovating the wholesale EV auction market by streamlining the buying and selling of electric vehicles among a network of dealers and fleet operators.
Exponential Markets focuses on creating financial tools and solutions that assist fleet owners and insurers in managing EV depreciation risks.
Charging
It is staggering when a particular business model or a business toolkit might be applied across unrelated domains. We believe the EV charging market is following a trajectory reminiscent of enterprise data storage of 1990. These were the days when end-to-end data storage solutions from IBM, Fujitsu, or other branded providers dominated. This lasted until VMware came up with a middleware layer that commoditized enterprise storage overnight, making hardware suppliers interchangeable.
We are observing a similar evolution in the EV charging domain. The recent addition of
AmpUp to our portfolio offers an enterprise abstraction layer, simplifying the management of multiple EV charger brands, streamlining operations, and enabling customized user experiences like loyalty-based charging rates for hotel operators and retailers.
Battery Management
In the battery management space, we have been falling short of identifying the transformative 10x performance improvements early-stage VCs typically look for until we discovered London-based
Gaussion. Gaussion’s disruptive technology has the potential to be a once-in-a-decade innovation redefining the energy storage industry by applying external magnetic fields to enhance charge-discharge cycles. Gaussion’s cell-agnostic solution enables faster charging and extended battery life across all battery types without touching the off-the-shelf cells. Gaussion’s disruptive technology has the potential to be a once-in-a-decade innovation redefining the energy storage industry.
