What happened

Shares of quite a few electric vehicle and self-driving-related stocks, including some high-flying names, were trading lower on Thursday afternoon on growing economic concerns in the United States.

Here's where things stood as of 2:30 p.m. EST for these companies' stocks, relative to their closing prices on Wednesday.

  • Canoo Holdings (GOEV 3.33%) was down about 13.7%.
  • Churchill Capital IV (CCIV), the special purpose acquisition company preparing to merge with Lucid Motors, was down about 5.3%.
  • Electrameccanica Vehicles (SOLO -3.55%) was down about 8.1%.
  • GreenPower Motor (GP 1.21%) was down about 8.4%.
  • Hyliion Holdings (HYLN -7.04%) was down about 11.1%.
  • InterPrivate Acquisition (IPV), the special purpose acquisition company preparing to merge with lidar chip maker Aeva, was down about 10.8%.
  • Lordstown Motors (RIDE -1.16%) was down about 9%.
  • Luminar Technologies (LAZR 2.69%) was down about 5.6%.
  • Northern Genesis Acquisition (NGA), the special purpose acquisition company preparing to merge with electric bus maker Lion Electric, was down about 12.6%.

So what

None of these companies' stocks were moving lower on company-related news, as there wasn't any aside from a minor announcement from Lucid Motors. What appears to be going on is a so-called "risk-off" movement in the broader market, driven by a few separate, but related, concerns.

A white Lucid Air, an electric luxury sedan.

Image source: Lucid Motors.

First, the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill is moving through the U.S. Congress. Some investors are concerned that the huge amount of money could trigger inflation, which has been low for a long time. Rising inflation is bearish for high-growth stocks, which include all of the names here. 

Second, the rate on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury bond has been rising, hitting 1.5% earlier today -- its highest mark in over a year. 

10 Year Treasury Rate Chart

10 Year Treasury Rate data by YCharts.

While it's still low by historical standards, rising rates mean that it could cost companies more to borrow money in the future. For companies like those here, all of which are some distance from profitability, that's bearish. 

Now what

There's one more factor that might be contributing to today's sell-off. Tesla (TSLA -5.59%), the leader of the electric vehicle category, has been trading lower on a number of concerns. Some are unique to Tesla, but it's likely feeling the macroeconomic pressure as well. And given that many of the electric vehicle stocks traded up on hopes that they might follow in Tesla's high-flying footsteps, it's no surprise to see them trading down as Tesla sinks.