will embrace our products in significant numbers. Market conditions, many of which are outside of our control and subject to change, including general economic conditions, the availability and terms of financing, the impacts and ongoing uncertainties created by the COVID-19 pandemic, fuel and energy prices, regulatory requirements and incentives, competition and the pace and extent of vehicle electrification generally, will impact demand for our EF-1 vehicles, if developed,, and ultimately our success.
The automotive market is highly competitive, and we may not be successful in competing in this industry.
Both the automobile industry generally, and the EV segment in particular, are highly competitive, and we will be competing for customers and sales with both EV manufacturers and traditional automotive companies. Most of our current and potential competitors may have significantly greater financial, technical, manufacturing, marketing, or other resources than we do and may be able to devote greater resources to the design, development, manufacturing, distribution, promotion, sale and support of their products than we may devote to our products. We expect competition for EVs to intensify due to increased demand and a regulatory push for alternative fuel vehicles, continuing globalization, and consolidation in the worldwide automotive industry. In addition, as fleet operators begin transitioning to EVs on a mass scale, we expect that more well-financed competitors will enter the commercial fleet EV market.
Further, as a result of new entrants in the commercial fleet EV market, we may experience increased competition for components and other parts of our vehicles, which may have limited or single-source supply.
If we are unable to successfully design, develop, manufacture and sell our EF-1 truck and EF-1 V van, our business, prospects, financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows could be materially and adversely affected. If we are able to manufacture and market the EF-1 truck and EF-1 V van, factors affecting competition include product performance and quality, technological innovation, customer experience, brand differentiation, product design, pricing and TCO, and manufacturing scale and efficiency. Increased competition will lead to lower vehicle unit sales and increased inventory, which may result in downward price pressure and adversely affect our business, prospects, financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows.
We have never manufactured vehicles on a higher volume commercial scale and our ability to design, develop and manufacture vehicles of sufficient quality and appeal to customers on schedule and on a large scale is unproven.
Our business depends in large part on our ability to develop, manufacture, market and sell our vehicles. We will need to convert our concept vehicles — the EF-1 pickup truck and the EF-1 V van — into production and sales. We have no experience as an organization in high volume manufacturing of EVs. The continued development of and the ability to manufacture our vehicles, are and will be subject to risks, including with respect to:
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our ability to secure necessary funding;
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our ability to negotiate and execute definitive agreements, and maintain arrangements on reasonable terms, with our various suppliers for hardware, software, or services necessary to engineer or manufacture parts or components of our vehicles;
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securing necessary components, services, or licenses on acceptable terms and in a timely manner;
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delays by us in delivering final component designs to our suppliers;
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our ability to accurately manufacture vehicles within specified design tolerances;
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quality controls, including within our manufacturing operations, that prove to be ineffective or inefficient;
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defects in design and/or manufacture that cause our vehicles not to perform as expected or that require repair, field actions, including product recalls, and design changes;
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delays, disruptions or increased costs in our supply chain, including raw material supplies;
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other delays, backlog in manufacturing and research and development of new models, and cost overruns;