This last week, some of the EV sector was more jittery and nonsensical than one of Donald Jr’s numerous cocaine-fueled diatribes. Let’s sink in and see what happened.
Arcimoto (FUV.Q) slid 3.77% over the last week after announcing the launch of its Ride of the Arconauts marketing tour. The company is currently in Santa Cruz, California from 10am to 1pm today. Not much to report from this EV manufacturer as it works its company-owned rental operations in San Diego and Eugene. I like they’ve added doors to their vehicles; makes them a little more serious than beach buggies. However, they are at the thin edge of the wedge when it comes to market share and the Ride of the Arconauts needs to land buyers and rental contracts if it hopes to continue in the EV race. Shorts remain confident and continue to control 33.04% and insiders granting themselves in-the-money options doesn’t herald an ability to significantly pump performance, at least in the near-term. I am eager for November when they reveal their progress to the world, perhaps the numbers will prove me wrong or at least for being more pessimistic than I should be. If you want to have a look for yourself, check out the Ride of the Arconauts and sign up for notifications when it will be in your town. Currently Arcimoto trades at $9.88 USD per share for a total market valuation of $391.12 million.
Canoo (GOEV.Q) climbed a mountain this week on the boards to trade at $7.39 per share on Thursday but slipped today to just 1.15% over last week’s trading price. Where is WallStreetBets? Canoo remains quiet and hasn’t said “boo” since the end of September. As I have always said, I like their convertible skateboard platform and the revenue potential, but I think they have lost themselves amongst the weeds in an effort to please everybody. This is a B2B operation, at least focus on that for now, build your fleet sales, generate revenue, and then maybe reach out with a couple recreational models. However, I am not an auto exec and certainly not the recipient of a silver-spooned SPAC market entry. I am merely an observer. I don’t see much changing for the EV manufacturer until it pulls up its socks and gets down to the real business at hand. We’ll see how they fare. Remember to do your homework and talk with an investment professional before making any investment decisions. Currently Canoo trades at $7.01 per share for a market cap of $1.75 billion.
ElectraMeccanica (SOLO.Q) saw a little red this week, dipping 3.17% on the boards. The Vancouver-based EV manufacturer and grown-up sector cousin to Arcimoto announced on Thursday that it had completed its migration to SAP S/4HANA Cloud. EM intends to leverage the business-transformation-as-a-service, RISE with SAP. This new ERP system will bring together the company’s finance, supply chain, manufacturing, sales and distribution operations processes into one digital container, supporting the company’s growth and go-to-market strategy. Utilizing SAP S/4HANA Cloud’s AI, machine learning, RPA and situation handling will power and efficiently manage the company’s rapid growth. Real-time predictive data and AI-driven analysis will keep the company on track in terms of scaling and production, while future-proofing the business. EM partnered with Price Waterhouse Cooper Canada to create this leading-edge technological business foundation. EM has a challenge in changing cultural norms of affluent wasting of interior space to get SUV drivers behind the wheel of a SOLO, but I have great faith in their product, their vision, and their business structure. They are truly embracing the future of personal transportation. Short interest remained at 17.79% which I think reflects the company’s challenge, but it isn’t significant enough to indicate a sinking ship like Arcimoto. Check this one out! Of course, do your due diligence. EM currently trades at $3.26 per share for a market cap of $389.66 million.
Fisker (FSR) pitted out today during trading to sink 5.16% for the week. The company announced on Tuesday that it will report its Q3 2021 financial results after market close on Wednesday, November 3, 2021. Whenever a company releases financials after market close, I always wince. It’s not a tried-and-true indicator, but it can mean that news isn’t so great and they don’t want the market to panic trade on it before they can get a word in edge-wise. Fisker plans to follow up the release with a conference call scheduled for 2pm PST where execs will provide a business update and cost synergies between the EV manufacturer’s Ocean and PEAR programs. Henrik Fisker, chairman and CEO; Dr. Geeta Gupta-Fisker, COO and CFO; and Dr. Burkhard Huhnke, CTO, will all be on the call. Shareholders will be allowed to submit and upvote questions to management through a shareholder Q&A platform. The Q&A platform will be open seven days prior to and up to 24 hours before the call with management answering a selection of submitted questions during the Q&A portion of the event. If you wish to access the live webcast, it will be available on the Events and Presentations page of Fisker’s Investor Relations website. An archive of the webcast will be available shortly after the call and will remain on the site for 12 months. Shorts still control 28.02% of the Fisker’s float. Despite the pressure, the EV manufacturer remains confident that it will commence production and deliveries of the all-electric Ocean SUV in November 2022 and it still intends to unveil the production-intent version, with specs and features, on November 17, 2021, at the L.A. Auto Show. Fisker currently trades at $13.74 per share for a total valuation of $4.06 billion.
GreenPower Motor Company (GPV.V) rode a bumpy line this week to sit at 1.29% under during trading today. No news since the company announced on October 13th it had delivered an additional 24 GreenPower EV Stars to Zeem Solutions. Admittedly, not a bad bit of news to end on, but I am definitely looking forward to more sales announcements and hoping the company will continue to follow through. I like this company for a variety of reasons. It has a solid mandate in a niche but lucrative market that is necessary. GPMC management are industry veterans with deep sector connections. The EV manufacturer isn’t run like a devil-may-care SPAC offering, its management remains fiscally tight and appropriately risk conservative. The market they service is difficult to break, so that remains a challenge and costs need to be brought down, but that’s a matter of maturing tech and scaling production. In the end, I remain in GreenPower’s corner and would love to see them take their rightful place in the EV transit space. That said, do your due diligence! Currently GPMC trades at $13.40 CAD per share for a relatively reasonable market cap of $368.88 million.
Kandi Technologies (KNDI.Q) also climbed a mountain this week but slipped to rest just 0.23% up during today’s trading. All’s quiet on the Far Eastern front, China’s economic woes are deepening along with power constraints and chip shortages. This will all play out over the next six months, and no one knows what those results will be. Will China alone be impacted, or will the global economy take a serious enough hit to launch us into another recession/depression? That said, I like Kandi, just wish I could see more into the crystal ball. Currently the company trades at $4.39 USD per share for a market valuation of $334.76 million.
Li Auto (LI.Q) is seeing green on the boards moving up 7.49% over last week’s share price. The bump seems to be attributed to the company’s announcement on Monday that it intended to hold an Extraordinary General Meeting on November 16, 2021, at 11am Beijing time in Room 108, 339 Dongxindian, Chaoyang District, Beijing, China. Perhaps not the easiest meeting to attend in person for American shareholders, but the content of the meeting outlined a democratization of the company’s decision-making structure. Board and executive support all the proposed amendments which would lower quorum from 30% of shareholder votes to 10%, remove director’s discretion to treat all Classes of shares as one if they feel amendments impact those classes similarly as well as making the Directors’ powers to issue preferred shares with voting rights more powerful than existing Class A ordinary shares. Amendments also included changing the power to appoint the auditor of the Company and fix their renumeration from being that of the Directors to that of the shareholders at annual general meetings unless that power is delegated to the Directors by the shareholders at an annual general meeting for that year. And finally, the termination of the founder entity’s special rights. Something that Tesla shareholders should have exercised long ago. The China-based EV manufacturer is shoring up its compliance to ride out what is most likely going to be rough economic seas domestically. Making itself more receptive to foreign investment is a smart move. I really like this one. It operates smart and has good products. Do your due diligence! Currently Li Auto trades at $32.33 per share for a market cap of $33.06 billion.
Lordstown Motors (RIDE.Q) dropped 4.55% this week. Not much has changed since the company announced appointing Adam Kroll as executive vice president and CFO. Shorts remain strong with 24.42% control of the float. The company is still dealing with the fallout from agreeing to sell its Ohio EV manufacturing facility to Foxconn for $230 million. Analysts at Morgan Stanley lambasted the news, claiming the facility’s sale price was nowhere near its actual worth. With missed deadlines and continuing promises, Lordstown is riding the ragged edge. Have no idea if it will survive to successfully launch and distribute its Endurance EV pickup, but stranger things have happened, like Tesla’s increasing valuation. Lordstown currently trades at $4.77 per share for a market cap of $834.45 million.
Lucid Group (LCID.Q) remains relatively on a line 0.71%. The thought-leading EV manufacturer announced at the end of last week that Canadian pricing for its Lucid Air would begin at $105,000 CAD when the company’s first Canadian retail location, the Lucid Studio, opened for business on October 16, 2021. Lucid plans to open another location in Toronto, Ontario sometime in 2022, with other Canadian studios to follow. The EV manufacturer continues to lead the sector in terms of distance, with its Dream Edition Range travelling 520 miles/863 kilometres on a single charge. Like Tesla, Lucid has a power storage segment. Unlike Tesla, it doesn’t tend to catch fire and fail to provide power, leaving customers to disconnect and get back on the traditional grid. With a sizable stake belonging to the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF), Lucid is prime position to profit from the Saudi Green Initiative, set forth by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to reduce the region’s carbon emissions by 60%. Combined with a massive 50-billion tree-planting program, Saudi leaders intend to upgrade and modernize power grids including the construction of the world’s largest power storage facility in the country’s proposed Red Sea Project. As Lucid has plans to construct a manufacturing facility in Saudi Arabia by 2024, the company is in line to provide battery storage solutions for future battery storage projects, while Tesla burns down Australia. This is another favorite of mine. Level-headed management, top-quality product, and multiple potential revenue streams. Do your due diligence! The company currently trades at $24.02 per share for a total market valuation of $38.60 billion.
Nikola (NKLA.Q) continues to slide on the boards, dropping 5.96% this week. Despite news last week of its LOI with PGT Trucking for the potential lease of 100 Nikola Tre FCEV trucks, investors rightfully remained gun-shy. Like Lordstown, Nikola has a lot to make up for in terms of legitimacy. Shorts are all over this one, controlling 31.41% of the float. I’ve basically resigned myself to the stance of “I’ll believe it when I see it” when it comes to Nikola. The FCEV manufacturer made multiple optimistic claims and allegedly fabricated progress not unlike the shenanigans of Musk, but unlike Tesla, it is being roundly punished for it. Don’t get me wrong, Nikola is getting what it deserves, but the blind eye public market investors seem to lovingly turn to Musk is sickening and needs to stop. Not a foe of Nikola necessarily, but certainly not hopeful until it turns things around. Currently the company trades at $10.53 per share with a market cap of $4.22 billion.
Nio (NIO) saw some positive action this week as it edged up 2.95% on the boards. Still no news and again, under the same pressures other Chinese EV manufacturers are currently enduring. Looking forward to Q3 2021 results. The company currently trades at $38.64 per share for a market valuation of $63.43 billion.
Tesla (TSLA.Q) is a noxious enigma. WTF are investors thinking? Yes, the company had a record quarter in terms of production and profit, but considering where it had to come from, nothing that would justify upping share price within the $1000 range. Let’s lay out the insanity. Tesla has put out approximately 790,000 cars since it began production in 2014. Toyota produces 10 million a year. Speaking of production numbers and starting a conversation on safety compliance, GM produced and sold over three million Bolt EVs since it unveiled the model in 2015. The Chevy Bolt has experienced 13 incidents of battery defects resulting in fire and as a result, GM voluntarily recalled all three-million-plus Bolts to fix. Tesla cranked out 700,000-plus poorly assembled EVs since 2016 and of that shoddy mix, there were at least five documented fires, 30 crashes resulting in 10 deaths and the NHTSA only ruled out Tesla’s dangerously mislabeled FSD in three of those incidents. To my knowledge the egregiously overvalued EV manufacturer only did a recall in China to address a braking software issue because Chinese regulators had the balls and power to yank Tesla off the production line. Yet, Musk is given free rein from his board and the SEC to manipulate markets, callously cause the death of Tesla owners while racking up untold property damage and public risk through wanton disregard of standard best practices and safety requirements. The company performs nowhere near its current valuation and even if every other auto manufacturer and power storage provider on the planet ceased to exist, it is physically and financially impossible for Elon’s living lie to ever live up to ridiculous price investors have bestowed upon it. However, bootlicking dimwits like Cathie Wood have renewed their efforts to unethically bloat the company’s value by naming utterly unrealistic price targets of $3000 per share. This unrelenting value surge from investors seeking ridiculous yields is going to implode and if it doesn’t, it will ring in an age of economic ruination that will last the better part of a decade and probably result in violent revolution. But hey, its your money. Yes, I guess it’s pretty apparent I’m not a fan.
Workhorse Group (WKHS.Q) dipped 2.11% from last week. The company is in a whirl of controversy with mounting allegations of wrongdoing involving insider trading as well as a continuing SEC investigation. Shorts continue to pound the company with 40.82% of the float. Not much hope on this one as it is plagued by legal, ethical, and logistical matters. However, there is a chance it may pull itself from the depths and make something of its proposed value proposition. Course there’s a chance that I win the lottery and retire to a tropical island, but I’m not placing bets on it. Again, it’s your money, do as you will. Currently Workhorse trades at $6.29 per share for a market cap of $827.98 million.
XL Fleet Corp (XL). Still waiting for Q3 financials. I like the company’s mandate, but no news since the end of August doesn’t bode well. The EV conversion play currently trades at $5.38 per share, down 1.98% from last week, for a market valuation of $749.79 million.
Xpeng (XPEV) bounced up 2.13% this week to trade at $43.14 per share. The leading Chinese EV manufacturer released its inaugural Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) report late last week. The report outlined the company’s strategy and achievements in ESG performance. Due to the curation of its core concept of X-SEG (Smart, Efficient and Green) the company received its second consecutive “AA” rating from MSCI ESG research, the highest rating possible. Xpeng also noted a score of 10 and 9.1 in categories of Product Carbon Footprint and Opportunities in Clean Tech versus an industry average of 7 and 5.5 respectively. The EV manufacturer continues to focus on its mandate of making EVs for the masses and with its ESG standards, Xpeng makes a far more conscientious player than Tesla whose CEO had an estimated personal carbon footprint of 2,084 tons in 2018. The average American household produces 7.5 tons of CO2 equivalents per year. Nuff said.
Now back to the traditional auto makers:
GM (GM) CEO Mary Barra continues to stand behind her EV market share projections, noting the American traditional auto manufacturer has made significant investments within the space and is ready to launch headlong into the EV market. With the LG settlement behind them, GM can get on with the business of taking a bite of Tesla’s business.
Ford (F) is getting is getting a lukewarm wait-and-see response from some of its commercial customers over its F-150 Lightning pickup and E-Transit Van. This is due partly to lack of experience with EVs as well as lack of clarity on regulatory policy. However, this sounds like just the pause before jumping into the pool. EV vehicles and their green energy counterparts are going to replace the ICE platform in short order and those that don’t ride the wave, will be drowned by it.
Toyota chief scientist, Gill Pratt, once again echoed the company’s relatively unpopular but realistic stance that everybody should drive a battery electric vehicle. Before any climate activists lose their collective mind, there are more ways to skin a cat when it comes to climate change and EVs are only one piece of the puzzle. Other solutions like hybrids and hydrogen-powered fuel cell EVs are more than capable of completing the realistic picture of a green energy future. Hydrogen is a viable solution as extraction technologies improve, it will play a large part in shipping and air travel. My apologies to cat lovers.
Volkswagen announced completing its “Volkswagen ID.4: Great Roadshow through the U.S.” tour on Wednesday. The tour set a Guinness Book of World Records title for the longest journey of an EV (non-solar) in a single country. The 48-state 35,000 mile tour broke the company’s previous Guinness record on the 2019 ID.3 tour of the same name. If you want to take a look at the journey, you can revisit the trip at https://vwid4-usatour.com/.
Nissan. Still nothing new to report.
Well, that does it for me, it’s been a journey and my head requires a rest. I cannot believe Tesla continues to buffalo the investment community. Please for the love of all that’s holy, wake up and smell the coffee!! That said, do your research, identify your picks, and make this a better world. Good luck to all!
–Gaalen Engen
