EV Week In Review: Tesla’s ‘AI Day’ Front And Center, Nio On Damage Control Mode, Romeo’s Rough Ride, Lordstown’s ‘Very Brief’ Shareholder Meeting
The bygone week was fairly calm on the EV front after weeks of a robust flow of news amid the earnings season. Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA)’s Elon Musk, however, provided the excitement that could last for the week and more, with the EV maker’s AI Day presentation.
Tesla At the Forefront of Cutting AI Tech: At the AI Day event, Tesla showcased several next-gen technologies, underlining the R&D initiatives underway.
The announcements included an in-house chip named “D1” that will power the company’s Dojo supercomputer. When scaled, D1 can increase bandwidth and decrease latencies for better AI performance.
“The AI capabilities that Tesla is working on will enhance and improve its FSD with hopes that Dojo will be operational next year,” Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives said in a note.
Investors Blow Hot and Cold Over Tesla Bot: Musk also introduced the Tesla Bot, a humanoid robot that is designed to help with dangerous and repetitive tasks. Despite the visionary project, investors aren’t likely to be too impressed, according to Ives.
As with robotaxis and Musk’s other future sci-fi projects, the Tesla Bot is an “absolute head scratcher” that will agitate investors further the analyst said. Investors are already concerned about rising competition and safety issues with Tesla’s cars, he added.
Auto Pilot Probe A Setback For Tesla At Week’s Start: Ahead of the AI Day, Tesla shares took a hit from a report of the initiation of a formal probe by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The probe is related to past accidents involving Tesla vehicles with their Auto Pilot mode on.
Related Link: Tesla’s Ad Spending May Go From Zero To Meaningful In 2025: How Will Margins Be Impacted?
Nio Accused of Tampering With Data Following Fata Crash: Following last weekend’s crash of Nio, Inc. (NYSE: NIO)’s ES8 that killed the car owner, the family of the deceased accused Nio technicians of accessing data without permission from traffic police.
Nio promptly issued a statement saying its personnel neither modified or deleted any data. A group of Nio users came to the company’s rescue by issuing a joint statement.
XPeng Makes Headway With Manufacturing Facilities: XPeng, Inc. (NYSE: XPEV) announced expansion to its Zhaoqing plant in Guangdong province, which will increase annual production capacity from 100,000 units to 200,000 units. The EV maker has another plant under construction in the Guangzhou province, and it is also setting up an intelligent manufacturing company in Wuhan.
Plug Power Beefs Up Executive Team: Hydrogen fuel cell energy company Plug Power, Inc. (NASDAQ: PLUG) announced the appointment of four general managers, overseeing each of its business units. The company also reiterated its record 2022 gross billings guidance of $750 million.
Romeo’s Q2 Disappoint: Embattled EV battery company Romeo Power, Inc. (NYSE: RMO) reported below-consensus revenues for the second-quarter, sending its shares lower for much of the week.
Lordstown’s “Blink-and-miss” Shareholder Meeting: Lordstown Motors Corp (NASDAQ: RIDE) held its annual shareholder meeting Thursday, which lasted merely 10 minutes. The company reiterated its guidance for commencing limited production of its Endurance EV pick-up truck in September.
China Issues Auto Data Security Regulations: New regulations on automobile data security issued jointly issued by five agencies/ministries aims at regulating the processing of automobile data, protecting the legitimate rights and interests of individuals and organizations, safeguarding national security and social public interests, and promoting the rational development and utilization of automobile data.
“If it is necessary to provide important data overseas due to business needs, the automobile data processor shall implement the requirements of the data exit safety assessment system, and shall not provide important data overseas in violation of the exit safety assessment conclusions, and supplement relevant information in the annual report,” the statement from the regulators said.
EV Stock Performance for The Week:
Related Link: How Will Tesla’s Auto Pilot Safety Probe Affect The EV Maker And The Industry?
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