Tesla Investors, Watch Out. DeLorean Is Back, as an EV.

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Tesla

investors might want to take note of an industry development. There is a new entrant to the U.S. electric-vehicle race. Investors, and moviegoers, have heard of it: DeLorean.

The maker of the iconic stainless steel sports car with gull wing doors released a teaser trailer previewing its coming EV on Wednesday.

The new DeLorean is set to make its debut in mid-August in California.

The original DeLorean, of course, was featured in the 1985 hit movie Back to the Future. About 9,000 were made before the company declared bankruptcy in late 1982.

Details about the new car are thin. Pricing, specs, and how it will be built aren’t known. The company didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment about the coming EV.

And for investors, there isn’t a stock to buy yet either. DeLorean Motor Company isn’t a publicly traded company.

That might be just as well: Small-capitalization start-up EV companies are having a tough time lately. Shares of

Lordstown Motor

(RIDE),

Canoo

(GOEV),

Faraday Future Intelligent Electric

(FFIE), and

Fisker

(FSR) are down roughly 75% from their 52-week highs, on average.

Investors have shunned more speculative start-ups amid rising interest rates and inflation. But most EV startups have had trouble setting up—and ramping up—initial production.

Fisker

stock is the most valuable of the four, partly because its doesn’t have all the production issues. Fisker is having

Magna International

(MGA) build its first EV—the SUV dubbed Ocean.

Investors and car enthusiasts can probably expect a relatively pricey sports car from the new DeLorean.

Tesla

(TSLA), the EV leader, likely won’t take the competition lying down; investors can expect it to have a say about which EV sports car will rule the market. Tesla is launching the redesigned Roadster in 2023 or 2024. That car is expected to go from zero to 60 miles an hour in under 2 seconds.

Tesla stock didn’t really reacting to the DeLorean preview. Tesla shares closed up closed up 4.8% amid a broad market rally. Stocks popped after the Federal Reserve announced its decision to raise interest rates by a half-point. The

S&P 500
and

Dow Jones Industrial Average
closed 3% and 2.8% higher, respectively.

Write to Al Root at [email protected]