2 Trading Pros Make The Case For Nikola, Nio Over Tesla In EV Stock Race

The electric vehicle space is getting more crowded and Tesla Inc TSLA may no longer hold the top play in the space, according to two pros.

Tesla Could Become 'Another Car Company': Electric truck maker Nikola Corporation NKLA is the first "real interesting" company to compete with Tesla, BK Asset Management Director of FX Strategy Boris Schlossberg said on CNBC. Specifically, Nikola's claims to offer consumers a 600-mile range makes it an "interesting viable competitor."

But it's too difficult to justify an investment in Nikola or anyone else in the space as the "stratospheric valuation" makes owning a stock a "lottery ticket," he said. Nevertheless, if Nikola's final product offers 70% of what it promises, it can challenge Tesla's reputation and transform it into just "another car company and not a fan-boy stock."

Nio Over Tesla: Shares of China-based Nio Inc NIO bottomed at $2.11 in March and has since increased in value six-fold. From a technical analysis perspective, the stock has good support at July's low of $10.46 and so long it stays above there, the stock could race to new highs, Oppenheimer Head of Technical Analysis Ari Wald also said on CNBC.

Compared to Tesla, Nio's stock offers a better setup.

"The stock has consolidated since peaking in July and I think this consolidation, it's allowing previously overbought conditions to recede," Wald said. "It's allowing the moving averages to catch up to the price and I think what you're going to see is a resumption of the uptrend."

Want to learn more? Check out Benzinga's line up of high-profile executives leading the EV industry in the video below: