Automotive start-ups are entering a financial crunch period that could send once-lauded companies to the wall amid a dramatic slowdown in investment.
The collapse of share prices, a rise in interest rates and uncertainty over the ability of new companies to deliver on promises has already contributed to the demise within the last month of the US van start-up Electric Last Mile Solutions and the UK’s online used-car retailer Carzam, with others predicted to follow.
“It’s a very capital-intensive industry, and for the past 10 years, capital has been pretty much for free.
