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 (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.

MUSK SUCCESSOR: Tesla director James Murdoch told a Delaware court in proceedings over Elon Musk's pay package that Musk had identified a potential successor as Tesla CEO in the past few months, The Financial Times' Joe Miller and Alexandra Scaggs reported. Lawyers for Tesla investors had argued in a pre-trial brief that it was unnecessary to award Musk a share options package in 2018 worth upwards of $50B, as the executive had publicly stated that he "intend life." Tesla board members had testified in depositions that they had no expectation that Musk would leave Tesla, and that there was never any succession plan in place.

GM FORECAST ON EV ADOPTION: General Motors told investors at a meeting in New York City that in the next three years, "GM plans to move very aggressively toward EV leadership as EV adoption is expected to approach 20% of U.S. industry sales in 2025."

The company stated in a press release in conjunction with the event, "GM will have multiple entries in pickup, SUV and luxury segments that represent about 70% of EV industry volume, including the Chevrolet Silverado EV, Blazer EV and Equinox EV, the Cadillac LYRIQ and the GMC Sierra EV; GM is launching a new digital retail platform with its U.S. dealer partners to enhance the shopping and purchase experience for EV customers and reduce costs to GM by an estimated $2,000 per vehicle; Five GM assembly plants in the U.S., Canada and Mexico will be building EVs; BrightDrop - GM's tech startup creating EVs, eCarts and software - is on track to reach $1 billion in revenue in 2023, as GM's CAMI plant in Ontario launches full production of the BrightDrop Zevo 600 delivery van next year, and scaling to a projected 50,000 units annually by 2025; GM's battery cell joint venture Ultium Cells will be operating plants in Ohio, Tennessee and Michigan by the end of 2024, making the company a leader in domestic cell production; a fourth U.S. cell plant is planned; GM has secured binding commitments for all the battery raw material it needs to deliver its 2025 capacity target; The company continues to secure its needs beyond 2025 with strategic supply agreements and direct investments in natural resource recovery, processing and recycling; GM's EV growth is supported by a highly profitable portfolio of internal combustion engine vehicles in North America, including market-leading pickups and SUVs, great quality, and consistently high scores for customer satisfaction with dealer sales and service."

GM added, "In 2023, Chevrolet and GMC will press their advantage in the pickup market with the new 2024 Chevrolet Silverado HD and GMC Sierra HD, which will be available in the first half of 2023, as well as the new Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon mid-size pickups."

ON SCHEDULE: Fisker (FSR) commences production of the Fisker Ocean all-electric SUV on schedule. Fisker's rollout strategy also includes continuous over-the-air upgrading of feature packages. The start of production is reinforced by growing momentum globally - with two trims sold out in the United States market for 2023. In addition to the green manufacturing, the Fisker Ocean's more than 50 kilos of recycled, biodegradable and overall eco-conscious materials reflect its commitment to sustainability. Fisker's production ramp in Austria will see over 300 units manufactured in Q1 of 2023, with a rapid increase to over 8,000 units in Q2. More than 15,000 units will follow in Q3, and in Q4 the company will finish the year with enough units to total 42,400.

ET5 EXECUTION CHALLENGES: UBS analyst Paul Gong downgraded Nio (NIO) to Neutral from Buy with a price target of $13, down from $32. Sufficient expectations for its ET5 model have been priced into the stock, but he expects execution challenges, Gong tells investors. Nio's monthly sales volumes did not show obvious improvement despite three new models launched in 2022, which he blames on internal cannibalization and limited differentiation. He remains cautious on Nio's longer-term efficiency and profitability.

BUY XPENG: UBS analyst Paul Gong upgraded XPeng (XPEV) to Buy from Neutral with a price target of $13, down from $34. The analyst states that investors have turned "pervasively bearish" on the name due to recent sales weakness and disappointing execution on the G9 launch and the stock is down 84% year-to-date. Gong adds however that he believes XPeng could improve on its internal management and product lineup, which could drive its monthly sales volume from 5K units in October to 10K per month following personnel reshuffle and product adjustments.

ON THE SIDELINES: Raymond James analyst Pavel Molchanov downgraded Volta (VLTA) to Market Perform from Outperform without a price target. The lack of visibility on financial metrics following the Q3 results makes it "essentially impossible" to have confidence in the fundamentals, Molchanov tells investors in a research note. The current hiatus in network expansion means that the road to positive EBITDA is even longer than previously thought, and Molchanov plans to remain on the sidelines until there is better clarity on how the balance sheet will be replenished and a strategy to accelerate the roadmap to profitability.

ENCOURAGED BY RECENT POLESTAR PROGRESS: Citi analyst Itay Michaeli resumed coverage of Polestar (PSNY) with a Buy rating and $12 price target and updated his model to reflect recent quarterly results. He has been "encouraged by Polestar's recent progress," including staying on track for 2022 volume goals, securing additional financing, and continuing its new product rollout plans while also being encouraged by management's comments on the initial Polestar 3 reception. Progress suggests the long-term story remains on track, though he has adjusted his gross margin ramp estimates to reflect ongoing macro and supply chain risks, the analyst adds.