It was an absolute tragedy of a day for the electric vehicle sector. Batteries ruptured all up and down the exchanges, with huge losses posted nearly everywhere. Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) managed to weather the storm the best, losing around 2.6% in the trading session, while XPeng (NYSE:XPEV) lost nearly 5%. VinFast (NASDAQ:VFS) lost over 5%, and Rivian (NASDAQ:RIVN) plunged just over 7%. But the absolute winner of losing today was none other than Fisker (NYSE:FSR), which cratered by 10% in Wednesday afternoon trading.
So, what happened? What sent an entire sector’s investors screaming for the door? Most look to a relative unknown in the field, TuSimple (NASDAQ:TSP), which lost better than 42% in the session after announcing it would delist from the Nasdaq exchange entirely. Given that its shares currently go for $0.41, in defiance of Nasdaq rules, it was likely only a matter of time until they were forced out anyway. The TruSimple board simply made a determination that a cost-benefit analysis of remaining publicly traded did not benefit TruSimple sufficiently.
The rest of the market had troubles of its own; Fisker is looking at a probe from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Rivian lost ground with Deutsche Bank analysts over its near-term prospects. And Tesla is facing an ownership fight as Elon Musk demands more voting control of the company before moving it into AI and robotics.
And Then There was the Cold Snap
Most of the United States saw temperatures plunge over the last three days, and with a warmup finally on the way, we saw the impact of cold temperatures on electric vehicles. The optics were not good for the field that was supposed to be a viable replacement for gas-powered cars. One driver described charging as taking twice as long as normal but only lasting about half as long. The main reason is that the chemical reactions in the battery that produce power take longer to activate, and that cuts the total available power. Either way, it’s not a good look, and will likely have some reconsidering an EV purchase ahead of the next cold snap.
Which Electric Vehicle Stocks are a Good Buy Right Now?
Turning to Wall Street, the laggard in the sector is TSLA stock. With an average price target of $248.44, this Hold-rated stock offers investors a 15.84% upside potential. Meanwhile, the leader slot goes to FSR stock, which is also a Hold but offers a 227.81% upside potential on its average price target of $2.83.
