Tesla Big Winner Of UAW Strike, Rivian Stands Tall Among Startups, Nikola CEO Calms Nerves And More: Biggest EV Stories Of The Week

Electric vehicle stocks capitalized on the strength seen in the broader market, with most advancing solidly for the week. EV pioneer Tesla, Inc. TSLA gained early on as Morgan Stanley’s Adam Jonas upgraded the stock and raised the price target to $400, citing the potential of the Dojo supercomputer.

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

Tesla Giga Mexico Update, EV Leases Securitization Plan And More: Governor of Nuevo León, Samuel Garcia Sepulveda, recently said an Instagram post that Tesla’s Giga Mexico construction could start soon, Teslarati reported. This could allay fears concerning the potential delay in the Giga Mexico construction shared by Tesla’s China suppliers and Mexican media outlets.

Tesla could be targeting a raise of $1.8 billion through the securitization of its electric car leases, media reports said, citing a Fitch Ratings presale report. This will likely involve conversion of a significant portion of Tesla leases into bonds, with the company planning to generate interest in about $1 billion of notes divided into five classes of bonds, rated from Triple A to Double A. Lower-rated tranches, however, will not be offered for sale.

This week, Tesla removed the Model Y rear-wheel drive standard range version from its U.S. website. Commenting on the development, Future Fund's Gary Black said, “There was some concern that TSLA might cut price of M-Y as 3Q draws to a close. Instead TSLA might want to allocate more 4680 cell production capacity to Cybertruck.”

The United Auto Workers’ strike has crippled Detroit’s Big Three and leaves the non-unionized Tesla a big winner, said analysts this week.

See also: Best Electric Vehicle Stocks

Nikola CEO’s Update Calms Nerves: Beleaguered truck maker Nikola Corp.’s NKLA new CEO Steve Girsky in a fireside chat this week addressed the recall of more than 200 of its battery-electric heavy-duty trucks due to a fire hazard. He clarified that the battery-electric truck recall does not affect the production or deliveries of the fuel-cell electric vehicle since the truck uses a different battery pack from a different supplier.

Nikola also said this week that it would expand its dealer network to Canada for its Class 8 truck sales and service coverage, in partnership with trailer manufacturer ITD Industries.

Rivian Outperforms Among Upstarts: As the EV market reels as a result of price cuts, Rivian Automotive, Inc. RIVN has managed to hold its own, data from Experian showed, according to Automotive News. Registrations for Rivian’s RIT pickup truck and R1S crossover utility vehicles came in at 2,750 units in July, up from the monthly average of 2,596 new registrations in the first half of the year. Rival startup Lucid Group, Inc. LCID saw only 348 registrations for its Air sedan in July.

Faraday Future’s Star Attraction: Shares of Faraday Future Intelligent Electric, Inc. FFIE jumped on Wednesday after the company shared a video of reality TV personality and real-estate broker Jason Oppenheim taking delivery of his FF 91 2.0 Futurist Alliance at the company’s “Delivery Co-Creation Day.” 

“Jason is thrilled to experience this new vehicle and be a part of the club that will allow him to share his vision of the future of EV luxury,” Faraday Future said in a statement.

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

Volkswagen Axes Jobs Amid Poor EV Uptake: German legacy automaker Volkswagen AG VWAGY is looking to cut staff at its plant in the eastern German city of Zwickau due to low demand for electric cars, Reuters reported, citing DPA News Agency. The company reportedly plans to cut staff by allowing fixed-term contracts to expire, which could affect a few hundred employees at the end of October.

Read Next: Why This Tesla Investor Expects 3Q Deliveries To Undershoot Expectations: ‘We Remain Bullish But Wary’

EV Stock Performances for The Week:

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