Tesla's Cybertruck Update, Lucid's Production Woes, Nikola's 60% Surge And More: Biggest EV Stories Of The Week

Most electric vehicle stocks closed the week ending on July 14 more firmly, although company-specific developments weighed on some stocks in the space. Market leader Tesla, Inc. TSLA advanced this week amid expectations concerning second-quarter earnings that are due Wednesday.

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

Tesla Cybertruck, Factory Updates And More: Tesla's official Twitter handle shared a photo of the first Cybertruck that rolled off the production line of the Giga Texas, which was surrounded by the factory’s workers. This has almost cemented the timing of the vehicle’s launch, with deliveries of the electric pickup truck likely beginning in the late third quarter.

Even as the Elon Musk-led company has yet to hit the 50,000-unit-per-year production goal for its Giga Berlin, the company is reportedly in discussions to begin work on the second phase of the project. A rbb24 report said the company's application for the approval of the planned expansion was made publicly available online. The proposed second phase will augment Giga Berlin's capacity by 500,000 units to take the total annual capacity to 1 million Model Y vehicles.

Tesla's Giga Shanghai achieved the milestone of producing its one millionth Model Y crossover utility vehicle at the plant, earning the distinction of being the fastest to the milestone. The Giga Shanghai is the EV maker's export hub, and Model 3 and Model Y vehicles produced in China are exported to nine markets in four continents.

Reports of Tesla’s talks with Indian officials over a potential EV factory that can manufacture 500,000 units a year made rounds this week. The Indian government, meanwhile, is reportedly adamant about not waiving duty on imported Tesla vehicles even as the company plans to set up shop in the country.

Lucid Surprises To Downside: Even as Tesla and Rivian Automotive, Inc. RIVN reported better-than-expected second-quarter deliveries, peer Lucid Group, Inc. LCID fell short on quarterly deliveries. More importantly, the luxury EV maker's quarterly production declined from the previous quarter, raising doubts about its ability to ramp up to scale.

Rivian Stock Rally Stalls: Normal, Illinois-based Rivian's stock took off in late June, thanks to its charging partnership with Tesla and its second-quarter deliveries that were above par. The stock, which nearly doubled between June 26 and July 7, took another leg up early in the week, completing a nine-session record winning streak.

The stock then went about a consolidation as it paused for a breather.

Rivian's upside may have to do with options market activity, said Daniel Kirsch, head of options at Piper Sandler, according to Reuters. Some 831,000 Rivian options contracts traded Monday, doubling the average daily volume, and much of the options trading consisted of investors buying “super short-dated calls,” he said.

Nikola Goes Vertical On Supply Deal: Electric and hydrogen truck maker Nikola Corp. NKLA announced on Thursday an agreement to sell 50 hydrogen fuel cell energy trucks to BayoTech and purchase low-carbon hydrogen from the firm. This triggered a strong two-session run-up in the stock.

Check out more of Benzinga’s Future Of Mobility coverage by following this link.

Canoo's Giant Leap Of Faith: Lifestyle electric vehicles company Canoo, Inc. GOEV was in the news this week as it delivered three Artemis crew transportation vehicles to NASA. “We’re honored to contribute to space exploration alongside Gemini, Apollo, & Mercury,” it said on Twitter.

EV Stock Performances for The Week:

	Weekly Change
Tesla	+3.50%
Nio	+3.56%
XPeng	+9.47%
Li Auto	+1.83%
Fisker	-3.42%
Workhorse	+14.63%
Lordstown	-35.74%
Hyzon	-1.22%
Canoo	-6.31%
Rivian	+4.60%
Lucid	-2.65%
Faraday Future	+40.65%
Arrival	-10.75%
Nikola	+10.53%
Kandi Technologies	-6.29%
Blink Charging	+0.56%
Quantamscape	-8.71%