With EV stocks struggling in recent trading, investors are keen to see the follow-up to President Joe Biden’s statement Tuesday that the U.S. should be the single-most significant supplier of electric buses and vehicles in the world.
While on a virtual tour of Proterra’s electric bus plant in Greenville, South Carolina, he said “Right now, we’re running way behind China.” Biden has proposed spending $20 billion to electrify at least 20% of school buses and $25 billion to electrify some transit vehicles as part of his $2.3 trillion infrastructure and jobs plan.
Shares of electric bus maker Arrival (NASDAQ:ARVL) have lost 31.9% of their value over the past 15 days just as the White House launched a full-court press on the infrastructure plan. Shares of EV contenders Fisker (NYSE:FSR) and Lucid Motors partner-to-be, Churchill Capital IV (NYSE:CCIV) are down 21.7% and 13.6%, respectively, in the same period. Meanwhile, Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) stock has gained 17.6%, recovering from a volatile first quarter.
Proterra estimates 50% of all new North American-built buses in 2025 will be electric, Reuters reported. The U.S. has over 475,000 school buses and 65,000 transit buses and most run on diesel fuel, the White House said. While Biden has committed that “all American-made buses would be zero-emission by 2030,” it’s not clear how that will be accomplished.
EV Stocks: ARVL Stock Stumbles After IPO
Arrival made its stock market debut via a merger with special purpose acquisition company CIIG Merger. At the merger’s announcement in November 2020, the U.K. company had an order backlog worth $1.2 billion. This included high-profile orders from the likes of United Parcel Service (NYSE:UPS). The company has focused many of its efforts on urban transit.
At the time of the Arrival SPAC merger announcement, electric vehicle firms could do no wrong. Since then, even some of the leading companies have stumbled. Short-seller reports, lost contracts and production delays have weighed on shares, and now retail investors are worried about valuations.
Proterra agreed in January to go public through a merger with ArcLight Clean Transition (NASDAQ:ACTC) in a deal valued at $1.6 billion, including debt. That SPAC’s shares are up less than 5% this morning after losing 2.1% following yesterday’s virtual plant tour.
On the date of publication, Robert Lakin did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article.
InvestorPlace contributor Robert Lakin is a veteran financial writer and editor, including previous stints with Bloomberg News, McKinsey & Co. and McDonald & Company Investments.
