High-Risk Investors Will Like the Looks of Atlis Motors—Here's How to Buy the Stock

The EV (electric vehicle) and mobility industries are among the hottest investment themes for the next decade. Several companies in the ecosystem have gone public over the last year to capitalize on investor appetite. There's also Atlis Motors, a privately held, crowdfunded company. Is Atlis a good investment? How can you invest?

Atlis, which targets both residential and commercial customers, operates under three business segments: Atlis XP, Atlis Energy, and Atlis XT. The company was founded by Mark Hanchett in 2016. According to his LinkedIn profile, he worked for over ten years as a mechanical engineer and then a director at Axon before leaving for Atlis.

Atlis Motors is building an affordable electric pickup truck that will have a 500-mile battery capacity and charge quickly. The company claims that the first iteration of its XP Platform prototype reached 0 to 100% battery charging in under 9 minutes.

The truck's specifications sound interesting. The company says it's working on the XP platform prototype and plans to have it finished in 2021, adding that “we currently have written agreements from numerous big up-fitter companies as well as industrial companies wanting our technology to power their vehicles, whether that is mobility or industrial machinery.”

Atlis Motors has raised $2.4 million in two crowdfunding campaigns. In Jun. 2021, it ended its Regulation A+ campaign, where it offered unlisted shares to over 9,000 investors for $8.24 each. While the offer price was low, the company claims a valuation of $166 million. Atlis also says that the reservation value for its products is $2.27 billion.

In early Jul. 2021, Atlis announced that it had secured a $300 million capital commitment from GEM Global Yield, a Luxemburg-based alternate investment group. The investment is contingent upon Atlis becoming a public company.

Atlis has no immediate plans to go public but aims to do so eventually. If the company can execute its business plans, a listing shouldn’t be a problem, especially considering the flurry of SPACs hunting for targets.

Atlis Motors is working in a market that's getting crowded. Rival Lordstown Motors could get first-mover advantage if it sticks to its production timeline. In Mar. 2021, Hindenburg Research accused Lordstown of fabricating its orders, resulting in the company’s CEO and CFO resigning. The company is also in dire need of cash to keep operations going into 2022.

There's also formidable competition from Ford’s F-150 electric Lightning model and Tesla’s Cybertruck.

Atlis Motors may not meet the same fate as Lordstown, but it's worth noting that producing an electric vehicle is a complicated exercise. The company is a high-risk investment and has no liquidity, as its stock is not yet traded.

However, if you're up for a high-risk bet with a small portfolio allocation, Atlis may be worth a look. Like all other EV startup companies, Atlis Motors faces execution risk and growing competition, but if it can execute well, an investment would pay off.

You can invest in Atlis Motors stock on its website, where the company offers shares. The minimum lot is 30 shares. International investors can also invest in the company.