EV Week In Review: Tesla's Gets Upbeat Delivery Forecasts, XPeng's Sub-$25K Car, Lucid's Big Week, Workhorse Gives Up On Legal Challenge

EV stocks had a mixed outing in the week ending Sept. 17 amid abounding industry news. Here are some of the key developments from the EV space in the past week:

Tesla's FSD Beta 10 Update, Ark Invest Trims Stake Further: Elon Musk confirmed through a tweet that Tesla, Inc. TSLA's full-self driving, or FSD, Beta 10 users have given good feedback and that Beta 10.1, and a beta request button, will roll out in a week's time.

Musk also said the beta button will request permission to assess driving behavior using Tesla insurance calculator, and if driving behavior is good for seven days, beta access will be granted.

Tesla bull Cathie Wood's Ark Invest continued to trim its stake in Tesla shares this week, with the investment management fund reducing its holdings in the EV maker by about $300 million thus far in September.

Musk's benevolence in acknowledging the strengths of his rivals came to the fore this week. The Tesla CEO reportedly suggested he has a great deal of respect for Chinese EV makers and also heaped praises on China for its disposition toward EVs.

Meanwhile, it emerged that Tesla put up a strong performance in Germany in August, a typically slow month. However, Volkswagen AG VWAGY's ID.3 beat Tesla's Model 3 to become the top-selling EV brand in Germany in the month.

In an analyst call, Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives said, aided by strong performance in the second-half, Tesla is on track to deliver 900,000 vehicles in 2021 and 1.3 million EVs in 2022.

Nio's ET7 Update: Nio, Inc. NIO's first-ever sedan, named ET7, scheduled to be launched early next year could be coming on time. The first batch of the ET7 tooling trial prototypes rolled off the production line at the JAC NIO Advanced Manufacturing Base in Hefei, marking a further increase in the maturity of ET7 product validation and industrial commissioning, the CnEVPost reported, citing the company.

XPeng Launches Sub-$25,000 P5 Sedan In 6 Variants: Chinese EV start-up XPeng launched its family sedan dubbed P5 this week. The model comes in six variations, with the starting price as low as $24,484.

Related Link: How Long Will The Wait Be For Electric Pickup Trucks?

Plug Power Sets Up German Headquarters: Plug Power, Inc. PLUG said it has established its European headquarters in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. The move is seen as an effort to establish the hydrogen fuel cell energy company as a global player.

Amazon-backed Rivian's EV Pickup Truck On Track to Be "First-to-Market:" EV manufacturer Rivian, backed by Amazon, Inc. AMZN, confirmed that the first production vehicle of its R1T pickup truck meant to be delivered to customers has rolled off the production line.

FuelCell's Q3 Beat: FuelCell Energy, Inc. FCEL reported this week third-quarter revenues that topped expectations and a loss that was narrower than estimates.

Workhorse Drops Lawsuit Against Postal Service: Workhorse Group Inc. WKHS said it has decided to drop its lawsuit against the U.S. Postal Service's decision to award a mail truck contract to Oshkosh Corporation OSK.

Lucid Amid Positive News Flow: Lucid Group, Inc. LCID shares gained ground after a bullish recommendation from BofA Securities analyst John Murphy. The stock gathered further momentum after it said its Lucid Air Dream Edition Range has received an official EPA rating of 520 miles of range. It is the longest-range electric vehicle ever rated by the EPA – delivering at least 100+ miles of additional range over its closest competitor, the company added.

EV Stock Performances for The Week:

Related Link: How Much Investing $1,000 Each In Tesla, Nio, XPeng, Li Auto One Year Ago Would Be Worth Now