Lucid stock closed at a record low and underperformed its peers on Thursday. The Tesla EV charger could be responsible.
Shares of the EV start-up ended the regular trading session at $5.73 on Thursday, for a loss of 32 cents, or 5.3%. The stock was the worst performer in the Nasdaq 100, according to Dow Jones Market Data. Shares are down more than 10% over the past five days.
Rivian...
Lucid stock has lost more than 10% over the past five trading sessions.
Romain Maurice/Getty Images for Haute Living
Lucid stock closed at a record low and underperformed its peers on Thursday. The Tesla EV charger could be responsible.
Shares of the EV start-up ended the regular trading session at $5.73 on Thursday, for a loss of 32 cents, or 5.3%. The stock was the worst performer in the Nasdaq 100, according to Dow Jones Market Data. Shares are down more than 10% over the past five days.
Rivian Automotive (ticker: RIVN) shares fell 3.2% in Thursday trading too, but Rivian stock is down only 2% over the past five days, boosted partly by an agreement with Tesla (TSLA) that will let Rivian drivers use Tesla’s supercharging network.
Tesla’s EV charger is rapidly becoming the North American standard. Ford Motor (F) and General Motors (GM) have similar agreements.
Setting the standard is great, but getting to pick the plug isn’t the main benefit for Tesla. The real point is that owners of Ford and GM cars will pay Tesla to use its superchargers.
Ford, GM, and Rivian shares reacted positively to those companies’ deals with Tesla because access to a large, reliable charging network makes it easier to sell EVs. It’s a win-win, so other auto makers will likely follow suit.
Still, issues over charging are a little more complicated than the EV version of what nozzle is used to dispense gasoline. That’s the root of what might be concerning Lucid investors.
There is “a disproportionate emphasis upon the [Tesla] plug versus the CCS standard,” said CEO Peter Rawlinson to The Wall Street Journal this past week, responding to a question about EV charging standards. CCS is the current plug for non-Tesla EVs.
What the U.S. needs, he said, is an “ultrahigh voltage standard [of] 1,000 volts,” calling such a system “the future for EVs.”
That would play to Lucid’s strengths because its vehicles are, essentially, designed and built to take 1,000 volts. That allows them to charge faster and operate more efficiently, as long as those chargers are available.
Tesla chargers work on 500 volts and Tesla cars are designed using a 400-volt architecture. Those rough numbers mean that Lucid vehicles can charge faster with the best CCS-based chargers than they can with current Tesla chargers. Lucid loses a speed advantage in terms of charging if Tesla wins the standards war.
It’s a relatively small thing, but a headwind for the company nonetheless. Lucid didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment about EV charging standards.
EV charging deals have helped Tesla shares gain 42% over the past month. Tesla’s gains appear to be part of Lucid’s pain.
Write to Al Root at allen.root@dowjones.com