Tesla tightens grip on EV-charging space: This week in EVs

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General Motors (NYSE: NYSE:GM) CEO Mary Barra confirmed this week that the company is preparing to integrate the North American Charging Standard (NACS) connector, designed by Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA), into its EVs beginning in 2025.

The announcement, made during a live meeting on Twitter Space with Tesla CEO Elon Musk, mirrors a similar revolution made late last month when neighboring rival Ford Motor (NYSE:F) also announced a collaboration with Musk’s Tesla.

These partnerships allow Ford and GM customers to access the extensive network of Tesla Superchargers, currently numbering 12,000 and expanding.

The very next day, White House officials handed Tesla another win when they announced that the company’s Superchargers would be eligible to receive a portion of federal funds, amounting in the billions, so long as the chargers also included CCS connections.

GM climbed more than 5% for the week to $36.23. Tesla was up 4% to $244.40.

Not everyone was excited to hear about the potential that Tesla’s NACS may become the standard in EV charging. Shares of EV charging startups like ChargePoint Holdings Inc (NYSE:CHPT) and EVgo (NASDAQ:EVGO) fell rapidly on the news.

Blink Charging (NASDAQ:BLNK), with over 4,000 charging stations in the U.S., opened trading on Friday down 0.5% before eventually falling over 10.6% on the day.

BofA analysts say the news is “somewhat cautious” for EVGO and “relatively neutral” for CHPT:

Following the moves by Ford and GM, all eyes are now on Stellantis (NYSE:STLA).

Analysts are expecting the Chrysler parent to put aside any differences and join its rivals in accepting Tesla’s NACS as the new standard in EV charging.

That being said, the company has yet to comment on any future plans to collaborate with Elon Musk and Tesla.

But the company was anything but silent this week as it announced the launch of its second round of share buybacks. The buyback program was announced on February 22, 2023, covering up to €1.5 billion (€1 = $1.08).

As of the announcement Wednesday, there are around 290 million shares left in the program after the first round. This should be enough to cover the program itself and any repurchases of the 99.2 million shares that Chinese JV partner Dongfeng (OTC:DNFGY) currently owns.

The automaker also announced this week a joint venture partnership with leading metals recycler Galloo. The two are currently in exclusive talks to form a joint venture with a focus on End-of-Life Vehicle (ELV) recycling as part of the automaker’s ongoing commitment to boost its circular economy activities.

Shares of STLA dropped off their weekly high of $16.49 achieved Thursday morning, but still closed Friday up 2.5% for the week to $16.24.