Charged: Tesla ordered to pay $329M in crash case, Musk gets big stock grant
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From the hotly-debated high-flier Tesla (TSLA), Wall Street's newest darling Rivian (RIVN), traditional-stalwarts turned EV-upstarts GM (GM) and Ford (F) to the numerous SPAC-deal makers that have come public in this red-hot space, The Fly has you covered with 'Charged,' a weekly recap of the top stories and expert calls in the sector.
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AUTOPILOT CRASH CASE: A jury in Miami ordered Tesla pay $329M to victims of a crash involving the company's autopilot driver assist technology, Bernard Condon and David Fischer of Associated Press report. The jury held Tesla significant responsible for the fatal accident because its technology failed, according to the AP.
AWARD OF 96M SHARES: In a regulatory filing, Tesla stated, 'As previously disclosed in its quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the three months ended March 31, 2025, the board of directors of Tesla, Inc., a Texas corporation, established a special committee to consider certain compensation matters involving Elon Musk, the company's Chief Executive Officer. The Special Committee is comprised of disinterested directors Robyn Denholm and Kathleen Wilson-Thompson. On August 3, 2025, the company approved an award of 96 million shares of restricted stock to Mr. Musk under the Company's 2019 Equity Incentive Plan. The shares underlying the 2025 CEO Interim Award will be issued upon termination or expiration of the waiting period or periods under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976, as amended. The 2025 CEO Interim Award was recommended by the Special Committee on August 1, 2025, and approved by the Board, with Mr. Musk and Kimbal Musk recusing, on August 3.'
EV SALES: Tesla's sales of China-made electric vehicles fell 8.4% in July from a year earlier, reversing a small increase in June, amid rising competition from rivals offering lower-priced new models, Reuters reports. Deliveries of Tesla's China-made Model 3 and Model Y vehicles, including exports to Europe and other markets, reached 67,886 cars last month, down 5.2% from June, data from the China Passenger Car Association showed on Monday.
BUY NIO: Macquarie upgraded Nio (NIO) to Outperform from Neutral with a $5.50 price target. The firm believes the L90 will be Nio's most competitive offering. The L90 is a six-seat large SUV near the price of the five-seat Tesla Model Y, Mcquarie tells investors in a research note. The firm believes the L90 offers better value versus Li Auto's (LI) recent i8, offer a 17% lower entry price and many similar features. It sees potential for the L90 to sell between 8,000-12,000 units per month, solving Nio's core problem of low volumes.
JULY DELIVERIES: Nio announced its July delivery results. The company delivered 21,017 vehicles in July. The deliveries consisted of 12,675 vehicles from the company's smart electric vehicle brand Nio, 5,976 vehicles from the company's smart electric vehicle brand Onvo, and 2,366 vehicles from the company's small smart electric car brand Firefly. Cumulative deliveries reached 806,731 as of July 31.
XPeng (XPEV) stated, 'XPENG achieved a new record monthly deliveries of 36,717 Smart EVs in July, representing a year-over-year increase of 229% and marking the Company's ninth consecutive month surpassing 30,000 deliveries. This brings the Company's cumulative total deliveries to over 800,000 units as of July 2025. In the first seven months of 2025, XPENG delivered 233,906 Smart EVs, a 270% increase compared with the same period last year. In mid-July, XPENG launched the 2025 versions of XPENG G6 and G9 in European markets and announced the XPENG P7+'s upcoming launch in Europe, bolstering XPENG's robust growth trajectory in this region. With the XPENG brand entering the UK, Italy, Ireland and other new markets in the first half of 2025, XPENG has now established a presence across 46 countries and regions worldwide. XNGP achieved a monthly active user penetration rate of 86% in urban driving in July 2025. XPENG recently rolled out the latest version of Tianji XOS, introducing its human- AI co-pilot experience, customized self-parking feature, enhanced AEB and more.
Meanwhile, Li Auto announced that it delivered 30,731 vehicles in July. As of July 31, Li Auto's cumulative deliveries reached 1,368,541. The company officially launched Li i8, a six-seat battery electric family SUV, on July 29 and expects to begin deliveries on August 20.
Zeekr also announced its delivery results for July. In July, Zeekr Group delivered a total of 44,193 vehicles across its Zeekr and Lynk & Co brands, representing increases of 19.7% year-over-year and 2.7% month-over-month. This achievement was made possible by the trust and support of over 2M cumulative users. Specifically, the Zeekr brand delivered 16,977 vehicles, while Lynk & Co delivered 27,216 vehicles.
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