Electric Vehicle Industry Financial Updates – Q1 2024

First quarter 2024 earnings are out, and if you’re bullish on electric vehicle startups and stalwarts, it’s an ugly day. The news for four of the major independent players is grim, although three of them could say that there’s potential for an upside down the road. As for the last one, well, let’s tackle that first.

The Game Might Be Up for Fisker

After a raft of bad news earlier this year, it seems like Fisker is headed directly for bankruptcy, and it may cease operations as well. The latest news hails from the contract manufacturer that actually builds the Ocean SUV for Fisker, Magna International of Austria. In the company’s earnings report, it states “Our current Outlook assumes no further production of the Fisker Ocean,” and furthermore that the company could suffer $75 million in losses related to the abbreviated Ocean contract.

In other words, the factory that builds Oceans is all but saying no more Oceans will be built. Since that’s the only vehicle that Fisker actually produces, and it doesn’t currently have another place to build the Ocean, this appears to be the beginning of the tragic final act for Fisker’s operation.

Rivian Is Expected to Burn Billions in Cash

Rivian’s Q1 earnings report is sobering. The good news, if you can call it that, is that deliveries are up, production is up, and revenue is up—the latter up $661 million. Deliveries for Q1 are up 71 percent to 13,588, a notable figure. Additionally, the smaller, more affordable R2 is on the horizon. There are even rumors suggesting that Apple is considering partnering with the company, a significant development if true, especially given the recent cessation of its Project Titan (the “Apple Car”) program.

However, the bad news is that Rivian is burning cash at an alarming rate. The company’s net loss for all of 2023 is a staggering $5.4 billion. Its Q1 2024 net loss is $1.45 billion, up from $1.2 billion from the same time last year. Consequently, the cash burn is expected to continue, leaving Rivian in a precarious financial position.

Lucid Is Also Burning an Enormous Amount of Cash

Lucid doesn’t produce nearly as many cars as Rivian but is also facing financial turbulence. The company noted that it is behind its goal to build 9,000 cars this year. The Q1 total loss is $685 million, which is an improvement from Q1 2023’s $780 million loss. Revenue has increased to $173 million for Q1, and it maintains $2.2 billion in cash reserves. Therefore, although the demand for its vehicles is below expectations, Lucid does not seem to be in an existential crisis—yet.

Report: Tesla Lays Off Even More Workers

After high-profile layoffs in its Supercharger and public policy teams, Tesla has reportedly laid off additional employees in the engineering, service, and software groups. While Tesla has not confirmed the layoffs, and the number of employees affected is not clear, it seems as though any potential staff adjustments could be on the table for CEO Elon Musk.