Soon we will look at the internal combustion engine with the same fascination as other ageing or dead technology.

In a year in which China indicated it was ready to ban the sale of fossil fuel powered vehicles and France, India and the UK all made firm commitments to phase out the usage of consumer vehicles powered by petroleum, investors are understandably keen to find ways to profit from this global change.

1. Invest in companies that make electric cars

Seems painfully obvious but worth pointing out nonetheless. Electric car makers, such as US giant Tesla are an obvious play on the booming interest in EVs. While the increasing interest in Tesla is an unsurprising side effect of the EV revolution, other cars with exposure to electric vehicles are something of a mixed bag.

There are questions around whether or not other car stocks are a worthwhile investment as it ties into their capability to handle the transition to electric vehicles. I would argue that despite the EU pressure on diesel vehicles for example, several large auto manufacturers have not had the decline in the popularity of the internal combustion engine (ICE) priced in.

The time taken to manage this transition is worth considering, as there will be further regulatory pressure to clamp down on pollution at both the local and national level.

2. Ancillary technology

From apps that help drivers find charging points to the companies that supply the charging networks around electric vehicles, this is one area that unlike the manufacture and development of electrics cars has far lower barriers to entry.

At the moment we have barely scratched the surface of the budding technologies, but key areas of improvement will include software to help manufacturers manage data on the time to recharge a car, and incremental improvements in the safety/fuel efficiency space.

The next generation of cars will have a far closer interaction with software. Charging giant Chargemaster is funded by a consortium of venture capital funds, although as it is not a publicly listed company this is not an option for small scale investors.

Other plays to keep an eye on include car dealers with a focus on cracking the EV market or who generate a high proportion of sales from electric vehicles. A car is a car, however not every dealership group has invested in the marketing and sale of electric cars or has dealerships in areas where electric cars are particularly popular.

3. Raw materials

Much has been written on the mining boom that will be caused as the world moves from a petroleum-dependent model to one in which the hunt for lithium and cobalt takes on epic proportions. Companies at the junior and midcap level are of particular interest as the value of their asset is obviously undertapped.

Critically, the exploration for lithium deposits in far flung corners of the globe is likely to whet many an investor’s palette.