Morgan Stanley Comments on The Auto Industry's Recent 'Double-Down' on Hydrogen

In a note released early Wednesday morning, Adam Jones, Morgan Stanley analyst, appeared to re-emphasize their support of Tesla Motors, Inc.

and dress down the recent "double-down" on hydrogen fuel cells. Jones called recent statements from Ford

, GM

, and Toyota

in support of hydrogen fuel cell technology "a little too obvious". He added, "We are not aware of any recent breakthrough in the field of hydrogen fuel cells. What we are aware of, however, is a failure of most electric vehicles to achieve their stated volume targets." This is, of course, except for Tesla who with the Model S is the only firm with an unqualified winner in the electric vehicle market, according to Jones. To drive this home, he noted that Cadillac sold a miniscule 52 Cadillac ELRs in May, and compared that to Tesla who sells more Model S's than that in a single day. Jones concluded the note by stating that, in his view, the push for hydrogen fuel cell vehicles is a "diversionary tactic" aimed at disrupting regulation to support mass adoption of electric vehicles. Following the note by Morgan Stanley, shares of Tesla are trading up ~0.5 percent in Wednesday's pre-market session after finishing down ~2 at yesterday's close.