Electric Vehicles

Trucks inch towards electric-vehicle critical mass

5 May 2020

Automakers have invested heavily in electric cars. But selling enough to justify needed infrastructure remains a chicken-and-egg problem. Putting batteries into the haulage fleets of Amazon, UPS and others could vault to a solution. A new report shows how utilities can help, too.

Tesla gets board street cred it sorely needs

23 Apr 2020

Hiro Mizuno, former investment chief at Japan’s $1.5 trln pension fund is joining the electric-car maker as a director. He and Tesla boss Elon Musk may bond over their views on short sellers. But it’s Mizuno’s ESG clout that will serve the governance-challenged manufacturer best.

Tesla bulls switch on autopilot

16 Apr 2020

Elon Musk’s carmaker is now worth over $130 bln, its stock price having doubled from its coronavirus low in just four weeks. A stronger balance sheet, a reopened China, and its technology edge are all grounds for optimism. But yet again investors are ignoring hazards ahead.

Virus hands Elon Musk electrifying cost challenge

2 Apr 2020

Tesla’s boss has ironed out most of its production snafus and amassed enough cash for the carmaker to go almost a year without revenue before running out of juice, longer than Ford or GM. But Musk can only pull that off if he has finally mastered how to keep costs under control.

Beijing helps gas guzzlers at clean cars’ expense

2 Apr 2020

The government might ease electric vehicle production quotas and delay raising emissions standards. It will ease some pressure on battered conventional auto giants, which generate jobs for millions. But it’s more bad news for struggling new energy startups like Nio.

Cheap gas drives auto industry to distraction

19 Mar 2020

With crude oil futures near $26 a barrel, drivers might lose enthusiasm for electric vehicles if governments put support on hold and let pump prices free-fall. But the push away from hydrocarbons is about more than petrol costs. Carmakers are ill-advised to let investment slide.

GM’s electric plan gives Musk a fresh challenge

4 Mar 2020

Boss Mary Barra unveiled an industry-leading 400-mile-range battery and $20 bln to invest in new tech by 2025. Sure, her estimated electric car sales will only have GM crawling towards its “zero emissions” goal. But it poses a more serious threat to Elon Musk’s Tesla.

Robo-taxis’ earnings horsepower

3 Mar 2020

General Motors reckons autonomous cabs can be a $1 trln market in the United States alone. That requires some heady assumptions about how cheap running such a service can be, and how many people can be persuaded to ditch car ownership for robo-rides.

Robo-taxi payday is a marathon self-drive away

3 Mar 2020

The prospect of mass adoption of autonomous cars has won Alphabet unit Waymo outside investors, helped boost Tesla’s stock and has GM positing a $5 trln global market. Robo-taxis could be big money-spinners. But aligning tech, costs, regulation and user readiness will take years.

Tesla $2 bln stock sale puts Musk faithful to test

13 Feb 2020

The electric-car maker is selling shares two weeks after the CEO said it wouldn’t make sense to do so. With the stock sky high, it's sensible opportunism. But the CEO’s flip-flopping, and Tesla’s skimping on investment to turn a profit, ought to make investors more skeptical.

Ford boss tries engine change to exit pits

7 Feb 2020

Jim Hackett is shaking up the struggling automaker’s top ranks, effectively anointing Jim Farley his successor. The hope is this will reverse Ford’s poor performance, capped by last quarter’s surprise loss. If it doesn’t, this overhaul is likely to be Hackett’s last.

Viewsroom: Tesla’s improbable ride

6 Feb 2020

Neither car sales nor the potential of robo-taxis justifies the $136 bln electric-vehicle maker’s shares almost doubling this year. Defying logic, Elon Musk’s barely profitable firm is now the world’s second most valuable car company. Plus, the U.S. elections fiasco in Iowa.

Ford boss may find he’s victim of Darwinism

4 Feb 2020

Jim Hackett was supposed to turn around the Detroit automaker’s fortunes. After almost three years in the driver’s seat, he’s finding success elusive: Ford ended 2019 with a surprise loss. Tesla’s surging valuation and overhauls at other rivals pile on even more pressure.

Tata test-drives conglomerate power

30 Jan 2020

Various companies in the $160 bln Indian empire are uniting to support an electric-car initiative. In theory, it should give Tata Motors an edge over Western rivals forced to find outside partners. If it all works in practice, it could deliver rare and valuable synergies.

Tesla shareholders are zooming away from reality

29 Jan 2020

A second successive quarterly profit has them turbo-boosting shares again. Car sales and prices are up, but costs are about matching them even before investment. The tax rate’s rising, too. Only more rapid growth or widespread autonomous driving justify its value. Neither exists.

GM’s investors school Tesla’s on self-driving hype

22 Jan 2020

Shares in Mary Barra’s $50 bln carmaker barely budged after it unveiled its autonomous vehicle, yet the potential of similar technology helped Elon Musk’s outfit to top $100 bln in market value. Considering true self-driving remains a long way off, GM’s owners are more realistic.

Tesla’s lucrative mode enabled

8 Jan 2020

Elon Musk’s electric-car maker is now worth $89 bln. That requires some hefty assumptions, not least on annual car sales. Shift the numbers up and down to see how many Tesla needs to deliver to justify its racy valuation.

Tesla valuation speeds into ludicrous mode

8 Jan 2020

The electric-car maker is worth $89 bln after finally hitting one of CEO Elon Musk’s targets. Tesla’s future is rosier than a year ago. But the valuation means believing it’ll soon sell 3 mln vehicles a year, an eightfold increase, or be a robo-taxi giant. Neither is realistic.

Beijing steers green cars in a new direction

6 Jan 2020

Subsidy cuts exposed tepid demand for electric vehicles in a country that accounts for 40% of global sales. Hybrids will gain stronger state support instead. China’s sway spells trouble for the likes of Tesla and Nio while giving a charge to others including Toyota and Honda.

Nio enthusiasm overheats with Intel inside

6 Nov 2019

The Chinese electric-car maker struck a new deal with the chipmaking giant’s autonomous-vehicle arm, Mobileye. It’s a promising partnership for sputtering Nio. A dearth of details and the industry’s fledgling nature, though, mean a 37% jump in market value is too optimistic.