Yesterday —Aug. 31— the Nasdaq 100 was down almost 2%, biotech was slammed more than 3%, Netflix (NFLX) was trimmed 3%, but shares of Tesla (TSLA) held up rather well, off 0.5%. Future market leaders begin to outperform during bearish periods and Tesla may be showing signs of that potential.
The Tesla Model S is making an impact in Europe during a period when sales of larger luxury vehicles are soft. During the first half of 2015, BMW sold 2,284 units of their 7 Series in Europe, while Tesla sold nearly 8,700 Model S. In fact, Tesla is running neck and neck with the Mercedes S class in Europe.
One reason is the aggressive infrastructure build out. A year ago there were only 76 supercharger stations in Europe. By my count, Tesla now has 196 supercharger stations on the Continent and in the UK, each with 4-6 chargers, totaling around 900 superchargers. New fast charging units can charge half of the Model S’ 310-mile range in just 20 minutes.
Globally, Tesla has built 502 supercharging stations hosting more than 2,800 superchargers. These stations show up on the Google map in the car. The car’s navigation software will automatically plot the most efficient route and guide you to the charging station. Based on the route selected, the software will factor in such things as road conditions and changes in elevation (hills and valleys) to pre-calculate the amount of charge expected to remain upon arrival. This is the mind of a rocket scientist at work.
Although I’m not expecting shares of Tesla to make headway during a nasty down market, if they exhibit notable relative strength, that would bode well once the weather clears. I expect capital to leave over-loved names such as Netflix and quietly rotate into Tesla on dips.
