What happened Shares of CIIG Merger (NASDAQ: CIIC) were up by 15% as of 12:30 p.m. EST Tuesday. But that's par for the course lately, as the stock has nearly tripled in the past week. On Nov. 18, the company announced its plans to combine with U.K.-based electric-vehicle maker Arrival, and the stock hasn't looked back since. CIIC data by YCharts So what Arrival is a 5-year-old company with plans for four electric vehicle designs that it intends to bring to market by 2023. The merger with CIIG will result in a company with an enterprise value of $5.4 billion. The company says the potential market for its vans and buses will be $430 billion by 2025. Investors are betting the company's "new method" of manufacturing will succeed. Arrival bus. Image source: Arrival. Now what While its first vehicles aren't scheduled to be produced until the fourth quarter of 2021, Arrival says it already has about $1.2 billion in orders. The majority of them are from United Parcel Service (NYSE: UPS), and can be canceled or modified. The company touts its "microfactories," which it says give it more flexibility and require less invested capital than traditional manufacturing facilities. Large-cap companies including Blackrock (NYSE: BLK), Kia Motors, Hyundai Motor, and UPS have already invested over $300 million in Arrival to support its growth, and management points to those backers' involvement as a validation of its plans. Retail investors should consider this a speculative stock. Its potential market may be huge, but there will be competition, and Arrival still has to prove its manufacturing model will allow it to price its vehicles competitively. 10 stocks we like better than CIIG Merger Corp.When investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.* David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the ten best stocks for investors to buy right now... and CIIG Merger Corp. wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys. See the 10 stocks *Stock Advisor returns as of November 20, 2020 Howard Smith has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.Source