Building The Electric Valley

Article originally posted on Phoenix Business Journal on July 12, 2021

Jim Maury may not be as famous as Elon Musk, but the two do have something in common: They both run electric vehicle companies.

“He’s a pioneer, and really pushed the envelope and I give Elon a lot of credit, but we’re all learning, you know, this is a new space,” he said.

Maury is the president and CEO of Zero Electric Vehicles in Tempe, a company building kits to convert gasoline vans into electric vehicles and, one day, it hopes to build its own electric car. Maury is growing his company here with hopes of participating in what he calls the “EV Valley.”

Arizona has drawn national attention recently thanks to Lucid Motors, Nikola Corp., ElectraMeccanica and Local Motors all choosing to build their EVs in the state.

Yet some observers think — or hope — that this is just the beginning.

Electric vehicles offer Phoenix a chance to define its technological prowess, to move into the top echelon of American tech hubs and pave the way in electrification. The opportunity is obvious — EVs account for less than 3% of new car sales in the U.S. in recent years, according to a recent Pew survey — but wrestling control away from traditional vehicle manufacturing hubs won’t be easy.

Find The Complete Article Here: https://www.bizjournals.com/phoenix/news/2021/07/09/building-the-electric-valley-inside-the-ev-push.html