Charging Ahead or Falling Behind? A Painful Financial Lesson for EV Company Investors.

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This time last year I penned an update designed to remind the many pure-play EV company supporters (mostly Tesla investors) that the challenges of legacy automotive companies to execute their EV strategies were not an indication that these legacy automakers were doomed to extinction. I argued then that robust profits from ICE and hybrid vehicle sales were more than adequate to offset EV losses while allowing these legacy companies to continue investing in their EV future.

Fast forward to today, the environment for many pure play EV companies is vastly different. Fisker is on life support. Rivian has paused construction on its Georgia factory. And the once lofty operating margin of Tesla now trails behind Toyota’s.