Tesla Gets Relief In Europe, Ford's Electrification Struggles, Lucid Boasts Of Tech Leadership And More: Biggest EV Stories Of The Week

Most electric-vehicle stocks advanced in the week ended Aug. 23, rising along with the broader market on hopes that a Federal Reserve rate cut is imminent. But company-specific news weighed down on some of them.

Here’s a rundown on what happened in the EV space during the week:

Mixed Tidings For Tesla In Europe: The European Union said this week that it would cut duty on Tesla, Inc.‘s TSLA made-in-China EVs imported into the region from the initially proposed 20.8% to 9%. The reduced tariff rates will also apply to other Chinese companies. The EU already had a 10% duty on imports of battery EVs coming into the country and the new duty was meant to protect domestic companies from unfair competition from Chinese makers, which benefit heavily from what it called as “unfair subsidies.”

The development comes even as Tesla lost the BEV crown to BMW AG BWMYY in July. The German luxury automaker delivered 14,869 BEVs in July compared to Tesla’s 14,561, data from market research firm JATO Dynamics showed.

Another longtime executive quit Tesla this week, with Sreela Venkataratnam, Vice President, Finance and Business Operations, leaving after an 11-year stint. Incidentally, a handful of key Tesla executives departed when the company announced large-scale job cuts in April. In another turn of event, Uber Technologies, Inc. UBER has reportedly hired former Tesla executive Rebecca Tinucci, who served as Tesla’s head of charging network, as its global head of sustainability.

Rawlinson Says Tesla Distracted: Luxury EV maker Lucid Group, Inc.‘s LCID Peter Rawlinson was at it again. In an interview with Yahoo Finance this week, he said, “We are considerably ahead of where Tesla is. We’ve taken that mantle. When I was at Tesla, Tesla was the tech leader. They’ve become distracted, and we have taken that place.” Lucid is on track to complete the build of its Arizona plant to a 90,000-unit per year capacity and manufacture 9,000 Lucid Airs this year, with Gravity rolling out this year, he added.

See Also: Best EV Stocks

Ford Scales Back EV Plans: Legacy automaker Ford Motor Co. F, which previously dialed back its EV plans a couple of times, announced that it would scrap plans to launch three-row all-electric SUVs and instead manufacture hybrids. The company also delayed the rollout of its next-gen electric truck to the second half of 2027, while it said it would begin making new electric commercial van which would use battery cells produced at its Tennessee plant. The series of steps are necessitated by rising competition from low-cost EV manufacturers, especially from China, and the aggressive pricing strategy adopted by industry players.

“With pricing and margin compression, we've made the decision to adjust our product and technology roadmap and industrial footprint to meet our goal of reaching positive EBIT within the first 12 months of launch for all new models,” said CFO John Lawler.

Workhorse Cash-Strapped: Ohio-based EV manufacturer Workhorse Group, Inc. WKHS announced disappointing second-quarter results, with revenue coming in at $0.84 million, missing the street view of $8.43 million. The company attributed much of the sales drop to lower W4 CC vehicle sales. The bottom-line also missed expectations. In the quarterly report filed with the SEC, the company sounded out a going concern warning.

Canoo Executive Quits: Struggling lifestyle EV maker Canoo, Inc.‘s GOEV chief technology officer Sohel Merchant, one of the founding members, has quit as the company is going through a significant reorganization, TechCrunch reported. The report noted that the company has been implementing austerity measures including closing down of its Los Angeles location and asking those working out of the place to relocate to either Texas or Oklahoma.

The KraneShares Electric Vehicles and Future Mobility Index ETF KARS ended Friday’s session up 1.21% at $18.93, according to Benzinga Pro data. For the week, the ETF was up 3.44% .

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

Read Next:

• Bad Tidings For Tesla And Its Peers? ‘We’re In The Dead Of The EV Winter,’ Says Gene Munster, As He Expects Growth To Collapse From 50% In 2023 To 5% This Year

Here’s how the EV stocks fared this week:

	Weekly Change (+/-)
Tesla	+1.94%
Nio, Inc. NIO	+3.29%
XPeng, Inc. XPEV	+1.01%
Li Auto, Inc. LI	+3.36%
Workhorse	-33.55%
Hyzon Motors, Inc. HYZN	+20.59%
Canoo	-2.00%
Rivian Automotive, Inc. RIVN	+5.68%
Lucid	+33.33%
Faraday Future Intelligent Electric Inc. FFIE	+41.21%
Nikola Corp. NKLA	-7.63%
VinFast Auto Ltd. VFS	-3.68%