Tesla Granted Electricity Supply License in the UK
Institutional investors and professional traders rely on The Fly to keep up-to-the-second on breaking news in the electric vehicle and clean energy space, as well as which stocks in these sectors that the best analysts on Wall Street are saying to buy and sell.From the hotly-debated high-flier Tesla, Wall Street's newest darling Rivian, traditional-stalwarts turned EV-upstarts GMand Fordto 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.Clickto check out Tesla's recent Media Buzz Sentiment as measured by TipRanks.ELECTRICITY SUPPLIER:U.K. regulator Ofgem granted Tesla a license to supply electricity to British households and businesses, the Financial Times' Rachel Millard. The regulator approved Tesla Energy Ventures as a supplier following a "robust application, assessment and approval process" over the last seven months, the author says, noting the move threatens to disrupt the U.K.'s retail energy sector after a decade of rapid change.FTC CLEARANCE:Filings with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission list Tesla as the acquirer of a stake in SpaceX from Elon Musk, who is CEO of both companies and the documents, dated March 11, also show Musk selling holdings to investors including Valor Equity Partners and DFJ Growth. The Tesla filings are related to its previously announced $2B investment in xAI, which is being rolled over into SpaceX after the recent merger of the AI firm with the space-launch company, people familiar with the matter told's Ed Ludlow and Kiel Porter.CYBERCAB:Last month, Tesla's new vehicle, the Cybercab, rolled off the production line in Austrin, Texas, Becky Peterson of The Wall Street Journal. The vehicle has no steering wheel or pedals, designed specifically to be driven autonomously be Tesla's Full Self-Driving software. According to Tesla, the Cybercab will be crucial to the company's planned shift to autonomous vehicles.XAI, TESLA PROJECT:Tesla CEO Elon Muskvia X, "Macrohard or Digital Optimus is a joint xAI-Tesla project, coming as part of Tesla's investment agreement with xAI. Grok is the master conductor/navigator with deep understanding of the world to direct digital Optimus, which is processing and actioning the past 5 secs of real-time computer screen video and keyboard/mouse actions. Grok is like a much more advanced and sophisticated version of turn-by-turn navigation software. You can think of it as Digital Optimus AI being System 1 (instinctive part of the mind) and Grok being System 2. (thinking part of the mind). This will run very competitively on the super low cost Tesla AI4 ($650) paired with relatively frugal use of the much more expensive xAI Nvidia hardware. And it will be the only real-time smart AI system. This is a big deal. In principle, it is capable of emulating the function of entire companies. That is why the program is called MACROHARD, a funny reference to Microsoft. No other company can yet do this."AI AGENT EFFORT:Macrohard, XAI's ambitious AI agent project, has stalled following leadership shake-ups and suspension of a data project involving 600 contractors, people familiar with the situation told Business Insider, Grace Kay. At the same time, Musk's other company, Tesla, has been ramping up its own AI agent project called "Digital Optimus," according to workers.ALL-NEW R2:Rivian announced full trims and pricing for the all-new R2, a mid-size electric SUV that it says "brings Rivian's design, performance and technology to a significantly broader audience without losing what makes a Rivian unmistakably Rivian." Deliveries start in Spring 2026, beginning with R2 Performance with Launch Package starting at $57,990, followed by additional Premium configurations in late 2026 and Standard configurations in 2027, the company stated. R2 Premium will be available Late 2026 starting at $53,990 and R2 Standard will be available in the first half of 2027, starting at $48,490, the company noted. RJ Scaringe, Founder and CEO of Rivian, said: "R2 embodies so many of our learnings that we have accumulated-the passion and attention to detail from our team is visible everywhere. Thank you to all the teams across Rivian who poured their energy into bringing this incredible vehicle to life. I couldn't be more excited."Rivian upgraded to Buy at TD Cowen into R2 launchBUY RIVIAN:TD Cowen upgraded Rivian to Buy from Hold with a price target of $20, up from $17, following a detailed R2 demand analysis. The firm sees full scale R2 demand at 212,000-335,000 units, suggesting upside to consensus forecasts for 2027, TD Cowen tells investors.MIDSIZE PLATFORM:At Lucid'sinvestor day in New York, the company says it "outlined key technical and strategic elements of its upcoming Midsize platform and revealed its next-generation Atlas electric drive unit." Lucid also previewed planned software and technology updates, including an in-vehicle AI assistant and its autonomy roadmap, and "reinforced its strategy to monetize software and services as it scales," the company stated in a press release. The company added: "Lucid's new Midsize platform has been engineered from the ground up to deliver segment-leading vehicles at a more accessible price point, starting below $50,000, while continuing the range, efficiency, performance, and driving pleasure that define the Lucid brand. Lucid Cosmos is an SUV designed for customers seeking exceptional efficiency, space, and performance. Lucid Earth is an SUV that extends the company's signature driving dynamics and efficiency into a product to appeal to those with an even more adventurous spirit. Lucid will share additional details on a third Midsize consumer model later."Lucid also said it "outlined key technical and strategic elements of its upcoming Midsize platform and revealed its next-generation Atlas electric drive unit." Lucid also introduced Lunar, a purpose built two-seat robotaxi concept based on the Midsize platform, that it says is "designed to maximize efficiency, utilization, and lifetime operating economics." While still in the concept phase, Lunar "highlights the potential of the company's Midsize platform to support future autonomous and commercial applications," Lucid stated. In addition, Lucid notes it highlighted advanced discussions with Uberto finalize an agreement to deploy Lucid Midsize platform vehicles at a scale similar to the Gravity robotaxi program, with intention to increase over time. "We view Lucid as a key strategic partner as we continue to rapidly deploy autonomous vehicles around the world. Lucid's unmatched efficiency, autonomy-ready vehicle architectures, and customer-centric approach give us confidence in our ability to deliver autonomous mobility together at global scale," said Dara Khosrowshahi, CEO at Uber.APPLE CARPLAY, ANDROID AUTO:Lucid Groupannounced it will start rolling out AppleCarPlay and Android Auto via an Over the Air software update to Lucid Gravity owners in North America beginning March 12th. The update, contained in the latest version of Lucid UX 3.5, is scheduled to be deployed to Gravity customers in the Middle East and Europe in late March.DEALS:Stellantisexecutives have met with China's Xiaomiand Xpengto discuss options for an overhaul of the carmaker in Europe, including acquiring stakes in Maserati or other brands and possibly investing in the Fiat owner's struggling European operations, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg's Albertina Torsoli, Daniele Lepido and Donato Paolo Mancini. "As part of its normal course of business, Stellantis holds discussions with a range of industry players around the world on various topics, always with the ultimate aim of providing customers with the best mobility choices. The company does not comment on speculations," the automaker is quoted as having stated to Bloomberg.BETTER EARNINGS VISIBILITY:HSBC upgraded Nioto Buy from Hold with a price target of $6.80, up from $4.80. The firm sees better visibility and has "stronger conviction" on Nio's 2026 volume growth and earnings improvement trajectory following the Q4 report. The company's new models and core portfolio growth, especially the ES8, could support volume growth, mix upgrade, and margin expansion, HSBC tells investors in a research note. The firm believes "strong" order momentum in Nio's core portfolio with new model launches is set to drive volume growth.Nomura also upgraded Nio to Buy from Neutral with a $6.60 price target. Nio is improving from a business and financial perspective over the past two quarters, and the firm believes that Nio is finally entering into a healthy business cycle, the analyst tells investors in a research note. Nomura is cutting Nio's 2026-27 shipments but still forecasting 25% shipment CAGR for 2025-2028.CLEARER MARGIN TRAJECTORY:BofA analyst Dimple Gosai upgraded SolarEdgeto Neutral from Underperform with a price target of $40, up from $17. The company's margin trajectory, revenue cadence and liquidity have all stabilized, which materially reduces the stock's downside risk, the analyst tells investors in a research note. BofA says SolarEdge's clear margin path warrants the upgrade to Neutral. The company regained the top U.S. inverter share in Q2 and Q3 of 2025 for the first time since Q3 of 2021, BofA points out.
