Charged: Musk’s $1T pay plan approved, Rivian CEO cashes in too

Institutional investors and professional traders rely on The Fly to keep up-to-the-second on breaking news in the electric vehicle and clean energy space, as well as which stocks in these sectors that the best analysts on Wall Street are saying to buy and sell.

From the hotly-debated high-flier Tesla (TSLA), Wall Street’s newest darling Rivian (RIVN), traditional-stalwarts turned EV-upstarts GM (GM) and Ford (F) to the numerous SPAC-deal makers that have come public in this red-hot space, The Fly has you covered with “Charged,” a weekly recap of the top stories and expert calls in the sector.

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PAY PLAN: On November 6, Tesla shareholders approved a pay plan that could make Tesla CEO Elon Musk the world’s first trillionaire, if he meets “ambitious goals” including expanding Tesla’s stock market valuation to $8.5T from around $1.4T, according to the New York Times‘ Rebecca F. Elliott, Jack Ewing, and Reid J. Epstein. However, asked before the vote, Norges Bank Investment Management said it would vote against the pay package. “While we appreciate the significant value created under Mr. Musk’s visionary role, we are concerned about the total size of the award, dilution, and lack of mitigation of key person risk,” the firm said.

SOMETHING WITH INTEL: Tesla CEO Elon Musk said, “I’m hopeful that we can within less than a year of AI five starting production, we can actually transition in the same fab to AI six and double all of the performance metrics. So. I’m super hardcore on chips right now, as you may be able to tell. Our chips on the brain. I dream about chips literally. I can draw the physical design of the A5 chip by heart at this point. It’s a good chip. It’s a good chip, sir. So. This is really key. Now, one of the things I’m trying to figure out is how do we make enough chips? So. You know. I have a lot of respect for the Tesla partners, TSMC and Samsung, and maybe we’ll do something with Intel. Haven’t signed any deal, but it’s probably worth having discussions with Intel.”

FDS CHINA APPROVAL: Tesla CEO Elon Musk said on Thursday that he expects the automaker’s Full Self-Driving software will be fully approved in China early next year. “We have partial approval in China, and hopefully we’ll have a full approval in China around February or March or so,” Musk told the company’s annual general meeting.

ROADSTER 2: Tesla CEO Elon Musk said the company will reveal the Roadster 2 in early April 2026 during a demo event. Musk, who noted that the company is “tentatively” aiming for an April 1 demo, said production of the vehicle will begin 12-18 months later.

CAR RENTAL PROGRAM: Tesla has introduced a new short-term car rental program at select U.S. stores, targeting three- to seven-day rentals starting at $60 per day, Electrek’s Fred Lambert reports. The program comes as U.S. demand has fallen following the end of the federal EV tax credit, leaving inventory accumulating at stores and dealers. Rentals include Supercharging and supervised Full Self-Driving, according to the report.

RIVIAN PAY PLAN: Rivian plans to give CEO RJ Scaringe a pay plan worth as much as $4.6B over the next decade, linked to new profit targets and lower share price milestones than a prior deal, Abhirup Roy, Akash Sriram and Ross Kerber of Reuters report. The move shows Tesla’s plan for Musk could become a model for companies looking to grow quickly.

ROBOTAXI: XPeng (XPEV) plans to launch three self-developed robotaxi models next year, primarily in China, using in-house chips and software, The Wall Street Journal’s Jiahui Huang reports. XPeng will team up with Alibaba’s (BABA) mapping unit Amap to operate robotaxi services, which will be available on Amap’s ride-hailing platform, Brian Hongdi Gu, co-president and vice chairman, told the publication. The company aims for its robotaxi business to become a core growth engine within three to five years, potentially expanding internationally, according to the report.

BUY ARRAY, SUNRUN: Seaport Research analyst Tom Curran upgraded Array Technologies (ARRY) to Buy from Neutral with a $12 price target. The firm believes the company’s turnaround plan is succeeding. This positions Array to be one of the industry’s winners in 2026 and 2027, the analyst tells investors in a research note. Seaport believes the company “has recovered to a healthier position” in the U.S., where it is “benefiting from a flight-to-quality.”

Guggenheim analyst Joseph Osha upgraded Sunrun (RUN) to Buy from Neutral with a $27 price target. The firm believes that the stock’s recent weakness provides “an attractive entry point” and also argues that prospects for capital returns in 2026 are “solid,” the analyst tells investors.