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US electric vehicle startup Rivian Automotive reported stronger-than-expected production figures a day after larger rivals Tesla and BYD reported robust deliveries, sending the companies’ shares sharply higher on Monday.
According to analysts polled by FactSet, Rivian built 13,992 trucks and vans at its Normal, Illinois plant in the second quarter, well above Wall Street’s expectations of around 11,000. The Californian company reiterated its forecast of producing 50,000 vehicles this year.
The update comes after Tesla, the US leader in electric vehicles, announced on Sunday that the company delivered a record 466,000 cars in the second quarter, up 83.5 percent year-on-year. Sales rose after Tesla cut prices in January and March.
“Tesla and Rivian were big good news for the electric vehicle sector as production and demand are buzzing on the road despite many skeptics,” said Wedbush analyst Dan Ives. “This has been a trophy quarter for Tesla and Rivian added to the fireworks with very impressive results for the June quarter.”
BYD, Tesla’s main competitor in China, also reported sales volumes nearly doubling in the first half of 2023, selling 1.26 million vehicles in the six months ended June.
Rivian shares closed 17.4 percent higher Monday in a truncated session ahead of Independence Day in New York, while Tesla was up 6.9 percent. BYD closed Hong Kong up 4.5 percent.
Electric vehicles accounted for 8.6 percent of new vehicle sales in the U.S. in the first quarter of 2023, compared to 5.9 percent in the same period last year, according to trade group Alliance for Automotive Innovation. Between January and March, more than 305,000 electric vehicles were sold in the country.
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The electric vehicle market is becoming increasingly competitive as GM, Ford and startups like Rivian seek to challenge Tesla’s dominance. But even though more and more car buyers in the USA are opting for electric vehicles, the number of public charging stations has lagged behind. The Alliance for Automotive Innovation said 39 electric vehicles were registered for each new public port in the first quarter.
Increased demand for fast public charging has prompted Tesla to open its Supercharger network to drivers of cars and trucks from other automakers, including Ford, GM and Rivian, next year. Rivian announced last month that by 2025 it would be building trucks and vans that use Tesla’s North American charging standard for connectors.
According to Deutsche Bank analyst Emmanuel Rosner, the 12,000 superchargers in the Tesla network account for about 60 percent of the total fast-charging stations available to US EV drivers.
Rivian announced that it would release full second quarter results on August 8th. The company delivered 12,640 vehicles to customers in the second quarter, compared to 4,401 in the same quarter of 2022.