For investors looking at top electric vehicle stocks to focus on over the past decade, there’s really been only one choice. American automaker Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) has dominated the landscape over this period, earning a top spot in terms of global EV market share at the same time.

The past, which involved little in the way of competition for Tesla, isn’t the same as the present. Over the coming years, many experts suggest that competition could heat up.

With a more fragmented market set to materialize in the coming years, the search for  the “next Tesla” is on. However, given the incredible number of options investors have to choose from, picking a true runner-up can be daunting.

That said, as the global EV market surges, so too does the size of the pie. Perhaps a number of electric vehicle stocks will be able to succeed. In any event, investors looking for options shouldn’t be disappointed – upstart EV companies have proliferated in recent years.

Here are seven of the top electric vehicle stocks I think could give Tesla a run for its money this year.

LCID	Lucid Motors	$21.48
RIVN	Rivian	$34.13
LI	Li Auto	$36.58
XPEV	XPeng	$26.89
F	Ford	$13.00
GM	General Motors	$35.13
PTRA	Proterra	$5.19

Lucid (LCID)

Lucid (NASDAQ:LCID) is a pure-play electric vehicle maker which went public via a SPAC merger approximately one year ago. While the company delivered only 360 vehicles in Q1, Lucid also reported more than 30,000 reservations for the Lucid Air sedan.

This model happens to be Lucid’s flagship vehicle, and also won the 2022 Motor Trend Car of the Year.

With this amount of interest and obvious quality with its core offering, there’s a lot to like about Lucid’s potential. As a higher-end player, Lucid appears to be looking to compete head-on with Tesla for the luxury EV market. However, in doing so, Lucid will need to ramp up its production capabilities.

In February, Lucid reported that it was cutting its full-year 2022 production guidance to 12,000-14,000 vehicles. Supply chain issues and other struggles have provided Lucid with much of the same headwinds this sector is battling.

However, should Lucid iron out its production and operations, this is a company with a high-quality offering I think could catch on long-term.

Rivian (RIVN)

Rivian (NASDAQ:RIVN) is another pure-play startup which boomed but has since bust.

Since its post-IPO high late last year, RIVN stock has sunk from a high of nearly $180 per share to just $35 at the time of writing. That’s good for a decline of more than 80% from its peak, but it still is one of the electric vehicle stocks to consider here.

Now, should Rivian induce the same amount of excitement it did at its IPO, the obvious near-term upside with this speculative stock is there. Investors had initially priced in Tesla-like market share for this maker. All indications are that such estimates, while frothy, could yet materialize over time.

Perhaps the most speculative name on this list, Rivian is a company I’ve been intrigued by. Its valuation made no sense at its peak. However, at these lower levels, I’ve been expecting more support. That said, this market is punishing stocks with no earnings and a rocky balance sheet. Until Rivian starts producing vehicles en masse, this is likely going to be a volatile stock from here.

However, should Rivian pick up its production game, there’s plenty of upside potential with this name. It’s a stock I’ve got on the watch list right now.

Li Auto (LI)

Li Auto (NASDAQ:LI) is a leading Chinese EV maker and the first Chinese company to sell an extended-range electric vehicle.

Months after its July 2020 Nasdaq debut, shares of Li Auto stock skyrocketed by triple digits. Wall Street placed huge bets on electric vehicle stocks and the future of mobility and the company didn’t disappoint, showcasing tremendous sales growth while flirting with profitability.

Li Auto posted better-than-forecast first-quarter earnings, despite headwinds related to the pandemic and supply chain. This EV maker declared adjusted earnings of 3 cents per share and $1.5 billion as revenue. Analysts had anticipated that Li Auto would report a loss of 7 cents per share on revenue of $1.4 billion. This EV stock shot up on the earnings beat.

Li is indeed witnessing solid vehicle deliveries. Also, besides Chinese EV peers and Tesla, it is also competing against established U.S. automakers like General Motors, Volkswagen and Ford as they step into the Chinese EV space.

XPeng (XPEV)

XPeng (NYSE:XPEV) is another China-based EV startup targeting the market’s high-end and mid-level segments. This company makes the P7 sedan, the smaller P5 sedan and the G3 small SUV.

XPeng has opened P5 reservations in Sweden, the Netherlands, Norway and Denmark.

The company reported 9,000 vehicle deliveries in April – that’s a 75% increase from a year ago. The company’s impressive delivery growth of 136%, and its year-to-date deliveries of 43,563, both outpace those of top Chinese EV makers Li Auto and Nio.

Xpeng stated in June that it had delivered a cumulative 200,000 electric vehicles, implying a delivery of a minimum of 8,359 vehicles in this month so far. Should this company continue along this growth trajectory, there’s a lot to like about the market share potential of XPeng.

Ford (F)

Ford (NYSE:F), an iconic American automaker, is most commonly known for its internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles. However, Ford is making inroads into the EV market in a big way.

Via the company’s Ford+ plan, it’s expected Ford will ramp up investments in charging stations and EV infrastructure to the tune of $30 billion by 2030. That’s an enormous chunk of change. Accordingly, investors may be concerned about the need for additional capital to fund this investment. However, the company has already noted it will be able to make such investments from profitability alone.

Indeed, the past few years have been highly profitable for Ford. Rising vehicle prices have outweighed higher input costs. Accordingly, this is a stock that trades at a measly 4-times trailing earnings. For any investor who thinks Ford has a shot of capturing even a small portion of the EV market, this is an easy bet to make.

General Motors (GM)

General Motors (NYSE:GM) is another mega-cap player in the U.S. automotive sector. Also known for its ICE vehicles, GM has signaled it’s moving into the EV game aggressively. So much so, this company has plans to surpass Tesla as the top EV seller in the U.S. by the mid-2020s.

That is aggressive.

As with Ford, it’s piling a tremendous amount of capital into this space. The company has pledged $35 billion in investments through 2025. That’s a very short window to plow so much capital into this space. With that much money directed at anything, it’s likely GM will make some solid progress in this space.

Notably, GM has been selling EVs and hybrids for some time. However, this company has made some serious inroads in the EV space of late.

So much ado that Ark Invest CEO and a high-profile Tesla bull, Cathie Wood, surprised her followers lately by selling Tesla stock worth $12.7 million and purchasing shares of GM for Ark Autonomous Technology and Robotics ETF (ARKQ).

Enough said.

Proterra (PTRA)

Proterra (NASDAQ:PTRA) is a producer of commercial electric vehicles, EV charging infrastructure, and powertrain solutions. It is, in fact, the first EV maker to earn multiple TRUE Certifications for zero waste facilities, as per Green Business Certification Inc.

Recently reported numbers from the company show Proterra delivered only 54 buses, 139 battery systems and 1.9 megawatts of charging infrastructure in the latest quarter. That’s not bad, but it’s certainly just scraping the surface. Like many of the other companies on this list, Proterra will need to ramp up substantially for investors to really take note.

That said, from this relatively small base, it’s easy to come up with some sky-high growth numbers. Analyst Sherif El-Sabbahy expects that revenue growth will increase to 33.8% this year from 23.3% in 2021.

Expectations are that the company’s growth rate could accelerate to the triple-digit percentage range next year. All this comes in spite of supply chain constraints, and the same issues other Tesla competitors are dealing with.

Now, increasing costs will weigh on margins this year. However, tailwinds related to a significant backlog and potential capital from federal infrastructure bills could take this stock higher in the near term. It’s one I’m watching closely right now.

On the date of publication, Chris MacDonald did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.