Electric vehicle (EV) stocks were stop-and-start on Monday, with some pulling ahead and others lagging behind. More consistent gains were found in the adjacent EV battery and charging segments, with top titles generally beating the market on the week's first trading day.
ChargePoint (CHPT 0.79%) did particularly well, rising by nearly 6%, while power pack developers QuantumScape (QS 5.69%) and Freyr Battery (FREY 5.70%) closed the day a respective 4.6% and 3.8% higher.
A new EV discount and a low-priced Chevy
None of those three companies had any market-shaking news to report; the pops were due more to events elsewhere in the EV environment.
Chief among these were developments on pricing. EV king Tesla revealed in an update to its website that it was effectively offering a $1,000 discount on certain variants of its Model Y SUV. The catch is that buyers must take delivery of their cars by Feb. 29 in order to receive the price break.
Additionally, General Motors's storied Chevrolet make announced that the starting price for its Equinox EV 1LT SUV would be $34,995, a relatively inexpensive level for an all-electric model.
A $1,000 discount on a pricey Tesla and a sub-$35,000 EV SUV from General Motors aren't going to make a seismic change in the U.S. car market. Together, however, these moves indicate the EV industry's drift toward a more attractively priced, mass-market strategy. Competition is heavy in this industry, as EVs remain popular. At the same time, EV sales growth has softened lately, and carmakers are getting nervous.
Continuing price cuts and the introduction of comparatively inexpensive models can juice demand for EVs. EV component suppliers and businesses dependent on these vehicles stand to benefit handsomely from such a dynamic. More EVs on the road mean a greater need for the best next-generation batteries and, of course, the kind of charging stations ChargePoint and the like are happy to build.
The race is far from over
Some investors are concerned about that slowing sales growth, but that worry might be overblown. EVs have emerged from their novelty stage to the point where they are now a meaningful chunk of the overall auto market. Tesla remains king of the heap, and incumbent carmakers such as General Motors are clearly in the race for the long term (and are setting their sights on their historical specialty, the mid-market).
So, the future continues to look rather bright for companies that can develop effective battery and charging solutions. ChargePoint, QuantumScape, and Freyr Battery all have much potential in front of them, and on Monday, investors felt all three could realize it.
