Investors Flee Tumbling EV Upstarts Once Hailed as ‘Next Tesla’

There was a time when the backing of some of the world’s deepest pockets and the mere ambition to sell electric cars was enough to inspire confidence in the stocks of upstarts Rivian Automotive Inc. and Lucid Group Inc. Now investors have all but thrown in the towel on the shares.

All it took was a fresh dose of reality from the two companies this week around cooling demand for EVs. Rivian, which makes electric pickups, SUVs and delivery vans and counts Amazon.com Inc. as its top shareholder, said its production will stay flat at last year’s levels. It also announced plans to shrink its workforce again. Lucid, majority-owned by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, projected only a slight increase in output over 2023. Both forecasts fell far short of analysts’ expectations.