Tesla Q2 EPS Estimate Bumped Up, Rivian's Cold Shoulder To Union, Lucid's 70% Sales Jump And More: Biggest EV Stories Of The Week

Most electric vehicle stocks advanced along with the broader market in the week that ended on July 12, catching up with market leader Tesla, Inc.’s TSLA gain in the previous week. The Elon Musk-led company’s shares stumbled after a 11-session winning streak.

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

See Also: Best Electric Vehicle Stocks

Musk Tightlipped On Robotaxi Rumors: Tesla shares were going strong and completed a 11-session winning-streak on Wednesday but reversed course on Thursday, stung by a report that said the EV maker would push back the robotaxi launch event by two months. The stock fell over 8% during the session before recovering in the very next session. Skeptics sensed a far more serious issue than the mere two-month delay, but bulls reasoned that the company could be perfecting the technology.

Musk, who is otherwise very vocal on X, the social media platform he owns, chose to remain silent on the rumored delay.

The week saw Tesla launching a new Model Y configuration in the U.S., namely the Long Range Rear-Wheel Drive, which costs under $35K and is eligible for the $7,500 federal tax subsidy. Separately, a COX Automotive report said Tesla’s Cybertruck was the best-selling EV priced at over $100,000 and that the company sold over 3,200 units in June alone.

Analysts have ratcheted up their earnings per share estimates for Tesla by about 9% over the past week, going by data provided by Yahoo Finance. The improved assessment potentially reflects better-than-feared first-quarter deliveries. The company is scheduled to announce its quarterly results on July 23.

See Also: Best EV Stocks

Rivian At Odds With Union: EV startup Rivian Automotive, Inc. RIVN did not warm up to the United Auto Workers’ union despite pressure from the Joe Biden administration, Bloomberg reported. This has reportedly hindered the R.J. Scaringe-led company from accessing federal funding available under the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 for constructing its Georgia plant. The company initially intended to manufacture EVs under the new R2 platform at the new plant, but it revised its plan and instead added manufacturing lines at its existing facility in Normal, Illinois.

Lucid Reports Strong Q2 Deliveries: Luxury EV maker Lucid Group, Inc. LCID reported second-quarter deliveries of 2,394 units, up over 70% from the 1,404 EVs it delivered a year ago. Sales rose about 22% from the previous quarter. The company produced 2,110 cars in the second quarter, an improvement from the 1,728 units manufactured in the first quarter of 2024, but down from 2,173 units a year ago. The company currently sells four variants of the Air sedan, which has a starting price of $69,900.

Polestar Unveils New BST Concept Car: Swedish EV maker Polestar Automotive Holding UK PLC PSNY unveiled a two-seat roadster concept at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. The Concept BST, which is the precursor of the 2026 Polestar 6, is the latter’s track-focused evolution. It features bespoke bodywork, finished in a classic motorsport silver, with muscular flared arches, extra wide track and 22-inch forged alloy wheels. The motorsport theme continues at the rear with an extreme rear wing and a design completed by bespoke racing livery-inspired graphics.

GM, Stellantis To Be Awarded DOE Funding: The Department of Energy announced on Thursday that it would allocate $1.7 billion to support the conversion of 11 shuttered or at-risk auto manufacturing and assembly facilities across eight states—Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, and Virginia—to manufacture electric vehicles and their supply chain components. This is part of the Biden administration’s Investing in America agenda.

General Motors Corp. GM said it would use the $500 million grant from the Department of Energy and its own investment to prepare its Lansing Grand River for electrification. A Reuters report said Chrysler parent Stellantis N.V. STLA will receive $334.8 million to convert the shuttered Belvidere Assembly plant to build EVs and $250 million to convert its Indiana Transmission Plant in Kokomo to produce EV components.

The KraneShares Electric Vehicles and Future Mobility Index ETF KARS ended Friday’s session down 1.83% at $21.11 according to Benzinga Pro data. For the week, the ETF advanced 4.46%.

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

Read Next:

• Tesla Bulls, Bear Weigh In On Robotaxi Delay: ‘Very Odd’ Or Biding Time For ‘Eye-Popping’ Prototype?

EV Stock Performances This Week:

Photo: Shutterstock