⚡️🚘 The silent rise of the e-vans

Not as sexy as cars... But maybe more formidable. While the news buzzes with shiny stories on Tesla and fancy new electric car (EV) models, one player in the electric push has gone sneakily unnoticed: the electric delivery van. And big companies are starting to realize its importance:

• IKEA, DHL, AT&T and Amazon built an alliance to pressure EV producers to make electric delivery vans diverse/scalable enough for their massive fleets (IKEA goes electric for all its home furniture deliveries by 2025).
• Hyundai and Kia just invested $110M+ in electric delivery vehicle startup Arrival.
• Amazon ordered 100K electric vans from Rivian back in September, the largest order of EV delivery vehicles ever (part of its pledge to become carbon neutral by 2040).

As e-commerce delivery continues to grow... more and more vans are hitting the streets. And companies like Amazon are increasingly incentivized to electrify their fleets to save money on fuel, gain independence from volatile oil/gas prices, and lower greenhouse gas emissions.

All Uber the place... Uber's had a lot in its trunk lately, from working to disqualify its California drivers from being employees to a potential London ban. But shares surged 5% after it sold its Uber Eats India biz to Indian food delivery competitor Zomato. Uber's taking the "dominate or ditch" approach: Leave markets where it's not #1 to focus on markets where it is (or could be). Some see this exit as quitting, but investors see a money-losing company finally make profit-chasing moves.

Real meat, minus the animal... Memphis Meats just raised $161M to develop cell-based meat, the biggest ever fundraise for a lab-grown meat startup. The startup "feeds" cells taken from animals, then grows the tissue into a hunk of beef you can cook and fit in a taco. And you thought plant-based was wild. The world wants twice today's meat by 2050, and lab-grown meat could deliver by requiring 99% less land and 96% less water than raising animals.

Not in the green... Weed delivery leader Eaze (aka "the Uber of pot") has a cash problem — it's almost out of the stuff. It's reportedly laying off employees and can't afford to pay its bills. Eaze wasn't making enough $$$ by acting as a delivery middle guy for 3rd party Cannabis producers, so it's whipped up a new strategy: "touching the plant". Produce and sell its own weed directly through depots. Eaze's struggles are also reflective of the cannabis industry not growing as fast as investors had hoped.

Remember when... checkered Vans were a must-have middle-school staple and Timberlands made you an official adult? Those days are gone for VF Corp, which owns both the brands (along with The North Face). VF shares fell 10% last week as Vans and Timbs sales slow. So it's looking to sell off its industrial work apparel divisions so it can fix its more fashionable consumer labels.

• Discover: Why people seem like they're aging at different rates: meet "ageotypes"
• Rest: 7 reasons you're always tired — might be your "sleep hygiene"
• Grub: The best and worst American airports... ranked by food options
• Work: The most in-demand job skills of 2020, according to LinkedIn ?: Is Venture capital worth the risk?

• Monday: Earnings from 3M and Whirlpool
• Tuesday: Earnings from Apple, Alibaba, Microsoft, McDonald's, Starbucks, Tesla, Visa
• Wednesday: Fed rate decision. Earnings from Amazon, AT&T, Boeing, and __General Electric __
• Thursday: Earnings from Hershey, Verizon, PayPal, and Electronic Arts
• Friday: Brexit day (UK withdraws from EU). One Medical and Reynolds Consumer Products IPO on Nasdaq.

Disclosure: Authors of this Snacks own shares of Uber, Amazon, and Tesla

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