Tesla's Unionization Threat, Rivian Hires Mercedes-Benz Veteran, Nikola's Battery Fire Returns To Haunt In Q3 And More: Biggest EV Stories Of The Week

Benzinga - by Shanthi Rexaline, Benzinga Editor.

Electric vehicle stocks advanced solidly in the week that ended on Nov. 3, thanks to the broader market strength facilitated by the Federal Reserve’s rate decision and Chair Jerome Powell’s dovish commentary at the post-meeting press conference.

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

Tesla Faces Risk of Unionization And More: Fresh off the United Auto Workers‘ win against Detroit’s Big Three automakers, the union is mobilizing support for collective bargaining at Tesla, Inc.’s (NASDAQ:TSLA) Fremont factory, a Bloomberg report said this week. Following the rumors, Deepwater Asset Management’s Gene Munster said Tesla employees would likely vote down the UAW and instead settle for a 20% pay raise. If a wage raise were to materialize, the company’s margin would likely continue to remain under pressure.

CEO Elon Musk said on “The Joe Rogan Experience” podcast that the annual production capacity of the upcoming Cybertruck will likely be at 200,000 units when production is fully ramped up. He also emphasized the difficulty in manufacturing due to the truck’s unique design. Commenting on Musk’s production estimate, CNBC’s “Mad Money” host Jim Cramer said Tesla may not be able to sell even 50,000 units of the 200,000 units produced.

Rivian Poaches Mercedes-Benz Executive: As Rivian Automotive, Inc. (NASDAQ:RIVN) makes progress with its Georgia plant, which would manufacture its second-generation EVs, the company hired Arnhelm Mittelbach as its plant manager. Mittelbach, who was with Mercedes-Benz Group AG (OTC:MBGAF) for over two decades, started on Nov. 1 and reports directly to Rivian’s COO Frank Klein.

Nikola’s Q3 Loss Widens: Struggling EV and hydrogen truck maker Nikola Corp. (NASDAQ:NKLA) reported a third-quarter non-GAAP loss of 30 cents per share, wider than the loss of 28 cents per share a year ago. The loss was double that of the 14-cent loss estimated by The Street. The company was stymied by the recall of 209 units of its Tre BEV trucks following a fire caused by a coolant leak in a battery pack. It has committed to replacing the battery packs on all 209 trucks at an estimated cost of $61.8 million.

On a positive note, Nikola said it plans to resume delivering the BEV to consumers in the first quarter of 2024. It also noted that it has 277 non-binding orders for the new fuel-cell truck from 35 different fleet customers.

Fisker’s Volatile Week: Notwithstanding the broader market rally this week, Fisker, Inc.’s (NYSE:FSR) shares ended lower for the week. The stock started the week sharply lower after electric vehicle suppliers, such as Panasonic Holdings Corporation (OTC:PCRFY) and ON Semiconductor, Inc. (NASDAQ:ON), hinted at more weakness in the EV market. Although it clawed back, the stock fell sharply in the final session of the week after the company announced that its Chief Technology Officer Burkhard Huhnke was leaving due to personal reasons. The company named insider David King to the post.

See also: Best Electric Vehicle Stocks

Nio’s Year Of Efficiency: Bloomberg reported that Chinese EV startup Nio, Inc.‘s (NYSE:NIO) William Li said in an internal mail that the company plans to cut 10% of jobs in November, with “duplicate” and “inefficient” jobs likely to be impacted.

Project investments that don’t contribute to the company’s financial performance within three years would be deferred or cut, Li reportedly said in the letter. "This is a tough but necessary decision against fierce competition,” he said, adding, “Our journey is a marathon on a muddy track.”

The KraneShares Electric Vehicles and Future Mobility Index ETF (NYSE:KARS) ended Friday’s session down 3% at $24.01, according to Benzinga Pro data. For the week, the ETF fell 4.25%.

Read Next: Bearish Tesla Analyst Warns Of Potential Mass Exodus By Big Institutional Investors: ‘It’s Poor Results…That Are Getting Worse’

EV Stock Performances for The Week:

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