Investing.com -- Here is your weekly Pro Recap of the past week's biggest headlines in the electric vehicle space: NACS adoption pushes Tesla to new heights; and shareholders show confidence in Toyota .
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Tesla’s record-breaking run
Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) shares ended a 13-day winning streak on Wednesday, when it ticked down marginally for the session, after gaining an impressive 29.3% over the two-week period. The stock's run matched the previous longest winning streak - of 11 days, reached in January 2021 - the previous Friday.
The rally follows recent commitments by General Motors (NYSE:GM) and Ford (NYSE:F) to adopt Tesla's North American Charging Standard (NACS) charging connector for electric vehicles.
And a domino effect followed: Charging equipment makers like Blink Charging (NASDAQ:BLNK), ChargePoint (NYSE:CHPT), and Tritium (NASDAQ:DCFC) also subsequently announced that they would offer chargers with the Tesla-designed connector.
“Given recent announcements by Tesla, GM, and Ford, we are clearly witnessing the continued evolution of the EV charging industry as technologies advance and industry stakeholders come together and evaluate best practices,” Blink said in a statement.
Reports Tuesday revealed that Stellantis (NYSE:STLA) was also considering adopting Tesla’s NACS. But the news of a potential sweep of “The Big Three” was not enough to carry the record-breaking rally to its 14th win.
Stellantis is a top-five automaker by sales, behind Toyota (NYSE:TM), which was also encouraged to adopt the NACS to their vehicles. Tesla CEO Elon Musk suggested on Twitter that he would welcome Toyota into the cadre of automakers adopting the charging connector.
“They should join the NACS coalition!” Musk said.
Toyota's EV push gains support
Toyota has faced recent criticism for being seen as slow to embrace electric vehicles as compared with other automakers, choosing to focus on hybrid powertrains instead.
However, earlier this week the company announced plans to develop high-performance solid-state batteries. The primary objective behind this strategic move is to amplify the driving range of EVs, while concurrently mitigating production expenses.
Shares of the company jumped almost 5% on the news, and ended the week up 10% overall.
As part of the company's comprehensive technology roadmap, a multitude of initiatives were unveiled, encompassing a revolutionary revamp of its factories. Notably, the company announced a momentous "technological breakthrough" that successfully addresses durability concerns related to solid-state batteries. Moreover, they expressed their intention to adopt Tesla's pioneering innovation of Giga casting to reduce production costs, further underscoring their commitment to technological advancement.
"What we want to achieve is to change the future with BEVs," Takero Kato, president of new Toyota EV unit BEV Factory, said Tuesday.
The announcements preceded a shareholder meeting in which investors voted down a resolution urging greater disclosure of its climate lobbying. Investors also backed all 10 members of the board, including Chairman Akio Toyoda, showing confidence in the company’s leadership.
Toyoda, the grandson of the company's founder, was reelected with 96% support last year.
Blink unites NACS and CCS with new design
Charging-equipment leader Blink Charging, among the companies integrating NACS connections into their technology, wasted little time on the project: It announced Monday that it has adjusted the designed its all-new 240kW DC Fast Charger to include both NACS and CCS connectors.
“As development is well underway, we are excited to be bringing this new, innovative charger to market and to continue to offer a diverse product portfolio, regardless of connector type, that addresses global demand,” said CEO Brendan Jones.
The Blink 240kW DCFC was first unveiled as a preview during CES 2023, and is now nearing completion under the dedicated team at Blink. Following this final design phase, the prototype charger will be submitted for UL certification.
“Given recent announcements by Tesla, GM, and Ford, we are clearly witnessing the continued evolution of the EV charging industry as technologies advance and industry stakeholders come together and evaluate best practices. We are excited by the increasing interest in our sector and are prepared to support all moves to increase EV adoption.” Jones added.
Shares of BLNK gained 8.25% on the week to end trading at $6.42/sh on Friday.
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