EVs need to prove themselves in 'execution year' in 2022 - Oppenheimer analyst
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Calling 2022 an "execution year," Oppenheimer analyst Colin Rusch said electric vehicle companies will need to prove whether they can deliver on the promise implied by their large market caps.
"We're looking at which platforms can really start making these cars in an efficient way," the managing director, senior research analyst and head of sustainable growth and resource optimization at Oppenheimer said.

"I think we're going to find out who really can do that in 2022," he added, noting that the current market caps within the industry reflect "opportunity size" at this point.
Looking at individual players in the EV space, Rusch argued that Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) "needs to keep the vision alive and execute along the way."
Specifically, the Oppenheimer analyst predicted that TSLA could hold its valuation and push its stock higher if it achieves its delivery targets during 2022 and continues to show progress in developing advanced tech, like making incremental progress on autonomous technology.
As for growing competition in the EV sector, Rusch suggested that this could end up helping TSLA in the long run by creating a bigger EV market and driving development for the industry's supply chain and infrastructure.
Within the more crowded EV landscape, Rusch predicted that TSLA "shakes out well" compared to its competitors.
TSLA faces growing competition from legacy carmakers, like Ford (NYSE:F) and GM (NYSE:GM), as well as startups like Rivian (NASDAQ:RIVN) and Lucid (NASDAQ:LCID).
Of these, LCID has had the best year by far, rising by nearly 300% in 2021. And, while TSLA has had a strong 2021 as well, climbing by nearly 52%, its advance pales in comparison to F, which jumped more than 130% during the year.
You can see how the major EV players stacked up against each other in 2021 by looking at this chart.