Indonesia Courts Tesla, Lucid Launches Model S Plaid Killer, Rivian Kills Cheapest Truck Trim, Insiders Repose Faith In Canoo And More: Week's Biggest EV Stories

Electric vehicle stocks were caught in the maelstrom of a market-wide sell-off seen, primarily, in the final session of the week ending Aug. 19. Market leader Tesla, Inc. TSLA traded with caution for the whole of the week ahead of the company’s stock split taking effect.

Here are the key events that happened in the EV space during the week:

Tesla Issues Semi And FSD Updates: Tesla was in denial mode when a Bloomberg report said its legal head, who was probing a purchase scandal that involved CEO Elon Musk’s close confidante, recently left. While Tesla’s official handle tweeted saying the report was false, Musk’s mother Maye Musk took to Twitter to slam Bloomberg.

Musk issued an update on Tesla’s full-self-driving Beta 10.69 in which he suggested 10.69.1 would be rolled out only to about 1,000 Tesla owners on Aug. 20. After gathering data from the initial testers, version 10.69.2 will be released to 10,000 customers in the following week.

“There are many code changes, so this will be an extra cautious rollout,” Musk said.

Indonesia President Joko Jokowi seems to want not only a Tesla battery factory in the country but also a vehicle manufacturing plant to help the country emerge as a force to reckon with in the EV market. The view came through in an interview the president gave to Bloomberg.

As the Tesla Semi delivery timeline gets closer, Tesla removed the option to make reservations for the EV and has replaced it with a “get updates” button. The company also updated the Semi page on its website with new specifications, pictures, and videos of the Semi.

Related Link: What Former Tesla AI Director Andrej Kalpathy Is Up To These Days; Why Elon Musk Is Rooting For His Former Lieutenant

Lucid Launches New High-Performance Sports Sedan: Lucid Group, Inc. LCID on Friday announced Sapphire, a new ultra-high-performance super sports sedan. It would have a three-motor powertrain – a twin-motor rear-drive unit and a single-motor front-drive unit. The company would begin accepting reservations for the new vehicle, which has a starting price of around $249,000, on Aug. 23. The Sapphire is touted as a vehicle that will give Tesla’s Model S Plaid a run for its money.

Rivian Pulls The Plug On Explorer Pickup Truck: Rivian Automotive, Inc. RIVN kicked up a furor this week with its decision to cancel its R1T Explorer pickup truck. The company reportedly communicated the decision in an email to reservation holders. The Explorer was the cheapest base trim of the company’s EV pickup trucks. Rivian attributed the decision to the slow uptake of the variant.

Canoo Has Confidence Of Insiders: Cash-strapped Canoo Inc. GOEV still has full faith of company insiders. This came to light this week when its CEO Tony Aquila bought a big chunk of shares in the company.

Hyzon's Founder CEO Departs: Hyzon Motors, Inc. HYZN announced that its board has appointed company insider Parker Meeks as president and interim CEO. Meeks would replace Craig Knight, who founded the company. The executive change came shortly after the company communicated that it would miss the deadline for filing its second-quarter results with the SEC.

Ahead of this, the company had said it is investigating certain issues regarding revenue recognition timing as well as internal control and procedures, primarily related to China operations. The company also flagged restructuring of its European operations due to operational efficiencies at its European joint venture.

EV Stock Performances for The Week:

Photo: Courtesy of mbeo on flickr