The electric vehicle industry and stocks like Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA), Kandi Technologies Group Inc (NASDAQ: KNDI) and Green Automotive Co (OTCMKTS: GACR) continue to produce a steady flow of interesting and relevant news for investors and traders alike with the following news being worth paying close attention to:
Cold Weather Reduces Electric Vehicle Range. According to new AAA research conducted with the AAA Automotive Research Center in Southern California, electric vehicle range can be reduced by an average of 57% based on the temperature outside. The average EV battery range in AAA's test was 105 miles at 75°F, but this range dropped 57% to 43 miles when the temperature was held steady at 20°F. Warm temperatures were less stressful on battery range, but electric vehicles still delivered a lower average of 69 miles per full charge at 95°F. However, the Christian Science Monitor was critical of the tests, namely because of the limited sample set and the lack of real world testing.
Why Car Dealers Hate Electric Cars. If you are wondering why car dealers hate Tesla and electric cars in general, Mashable has a great article that explains the logic behind the hatred. Mike Kelly, a car dealer in Erie, Pa. who also happens to be Republican member of Congress, was quoted as saying:
"When you look at this, it makes absolutely no sense. I can stock a Chevy Cruze, which is about a $17,500 car and turns every 30 to 40 days out of inventory … or I can have a [$45,763] Volt, which never turns and creates nothing for me on the lot except interest costs."
David Kiley, an analyst with New Roads Media, was also quoted as saying:
"You'll find that many dealers are Republicans, and so have joined the bandwagon of [electric vehicle] naysayers, which is a popular theme among Republicans. That's a real phenomenon… Dealers want to move metal, plain and simple. There is more education and selling required for EVs than gasoline cars. As long as gasoline remains under $4 a gallon in most of the country, sales of EVs and plug-ins like the Chevy Volt and Ford C-max Energi are going to have steep hills to climb — because the infrastructure to support them is still lagging."
Those realities led to stories of dealers steering customers away from EVs according to a Tesla forum.
Kandi Technologies Group Reports Earnings. On Monday, China based Kandi Technologies Group, which makes specialized electric vehicles such as all-terrain vehicles and utility vehicles, reported fourth quarter and year end earnings. Electric vehicle sales achieved a 193.7% fourth quarter gain while fourth quarter revenues increased 92.2% year over year to $50.6 million and full year revenue grew 46.5% year over year to $94.5 million. Fourth quarter Non-GAAP net income rose 259% to $4.6 million while Non-GAAP net income increased 23.9% to $5.2 million. However, it should be noted that Kandi Technologies Group's Form 10-K revealed the following:
In November 2013, the SEC Denver office informed the Company that it was conducting an investigation of the Company and made a request for the production of documents and information. The Company is cooperating fully with the SEC in this matter. The Company is unable to predict what action, if any, might be taken in the future by the SEC as a result of the matters that are the subject of the investigation or what impact, if any, the cost of responding to the investigation might have on the Company's financial condition or results of operations.
Kandi Technologies Group is up 57.8% since the start of the year, up 408.9% over the past year and up 2,426.7% over the past five years.
Kandi Technologies Group Also Does a Share Placement. Last Wednesday, Kandi Technologies Group announced that it had entered into a securities purchase agreement with two institutional investors for a registered direct placement of approximately $11,053,440 worth common stock at a price of $18.24 per share. The company will issue a total of 606,000 shares to the institutional investors plus issue warrants for the purchase of up to 90,900 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $22.80 per share. The warrants have a term of 18 months from the date of issuance.
Green Automotive Co to Build a Silent Safari Vehicle. Small cap Green Automotive Company, a state-of-the-art niche vehicle design, engineering, manufacturing and sales company based in Riverside California, recently announced that it had entered into a partnership with the Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya, one of the largest wildlife reserves in the world, and the Royal College of Art in London to create the all electric Safari Vehicle of the Future. The goal of the project is to create an all-electric vehicle solution that will allow silent safaris with zero emissions and which can travel off-road with a minimum foot-print. Ol Pejeta is using Crowdfunding (http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/be-part-of-developing-the-safari-vehicle-of-the-future) to finance the project with the first tranche of $50,000 guaranteeing the design of the vehicle while the second tranche of $100,000 will allow the creation of the first prototype.
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