Tesla's California Return, Ford's F-150 Lightning Woes, Lucid And Nikola Earnings Disappoint And More: Biggest EV Stories Of The Week

Electric vehicle stocks came under selling pressure in the week ended Feb. 24, weighed down by the general rise in risk aversion and a negative earnings report from luxury EV manufacturer Lucid Group, Inc. LCID.

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

Tesla’s New Engineering Headquarters And More: After shifting its corporate headquarters to Austin, Texas, Tesla, Inc. TSLA has returned to California, but this time to house its global engineering headquarters in Palo Alto. The company held an event to announce the plan, which was attended by CEO Elon Musk and California Governor Gavin Newsom.

With the last tranche of the stock award under Musk’s 2018 pay plan already vested, chatter about the billionaire receiving a “monster” package has begun. This would likely calm investor’s nerves and also keep the “Technoking of Tesla” committed to his EV venture, said Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives.

Reports suggested that Tesla’s Mexico plans may hit a roadblock as Nuevo Leon, Mexico, the venue the company has targeted for constructing its next Gigafactory, has water scarcity. Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador reportedly told if there’s a water shortage, the country won’t issue permits for building the plant.

This week also saw Tesla commencing to implement its “Magic Dock,” at its Supercharger locations in the U.S., which would give owners of non-Tesla vehicles access to the facility for charging. The first location with the Magic Dock, which is a Supercharger that contains a built-in CCS Combo 1 adapter, was reportedly found in Verona, New York.

All eyes now shift toward the upcoming week, when the company plans to hold its first Investor Day event.

See also: Best Electric Vehicle Stocks

Lucid, Nikola Disappoint With Q4 Reports: With both fourth-quarter revenue and 2023 production guidance disappointing to the downside, Lucid investors dumped the stock this week. CEO Peter Rawlinson's assuaging commentary on the earnings call did not win over investors, with an analyst even suggesting that listening to the executive on the call was like “listening to the tour guide on an ocean liner about to hit an iceberg.”

The earnings report not only dragged down the Newark, California-based company’s stock, but it also led to a decline for most of the EV stocks.

Nikola Corporation NKLA reported a steep plunge in fourth-quarter revenue and a wider loss, while its cash reserve continues to shrink. The company said it produced 133 battery EV trucks during the quarter, but delivered just 20 of them. The company said the fuel-cell version of the truck is on track to begin production in the second half of 2023.

These earnings reports began to stir concerns about demand, as analysts opined that the problem confronting these startups is now more related to demand rather than production.

Lordstown Pauses Production: Lordstown Motors Corp. RIDE, which is manufacturing the Endurance pickup truck in collaboration with Taiwan’s Hon Hai Precision Manufacturing Company Limited HNHPF said it will suspend production and deliveries of the electrified pick-up truck at the Ohio plant to address performance and quality issues with certain components.

Ford’s F-150 Lightning Production Stays Suspended: The production pause of the F-150 Lightning pick-up truck that was announced by Ford Motor Co. F earlier this month was extended by another week, reports said. The initial production halt was announced following a fire incident involving a Ford EV truck that occurred on Feb. 4 during a pre-delivery inspection at the company’s Michigan plant. The company reportedly said the delay was to provide time for its South Korean supplier SK On to build high-quality cells by changing the equipment and processes.

Read next: Elon Musk Has Criticized Passive Funds, But 3 Of The Largest Now Collectively Own More Tesla Stock Than Its CEO

EV Stock Performances for The Week:

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