EV shares mixed in premarket trading. Tesla rebounded over 3% after a 3.5% decline in prior session; Faraday Future soared 17%; NIO sank 1.8%.

Tesla Inc. said “a robotaxi future is closer than you probably think” on X.

Less than two months ago, shares of Tesla Inc. were on their way to just the third losing year in the electric-vehicle maker’s decade-and-a-half as a public company. But after a furious rally in the last seven weeks, the stock is suddenly among the S&P 500 Index’s best performers for 2024.

What happened to trigger the turnaround? Nothing at the company, where demand for its cars is still wobbly and the future looks increasingly uncertain. Rather it was what investors regard as a political masterstroke by Tesla’s leader Elon Musk, aggressively supporting President-elect Donald Trump on the campaign trail and taking an unofficial role in his administration.

“How do you put a value on the fact that Musk has deep access with the incoming administration?” said Steve Sosnick, chief strategist at Interactive Brokers. “You can assign almost any number to it.”

Faraday Future announced that it has secured approximately $30 million in cash financing commitments. The funds will be used to accelerate the Company’s growth and the development of Faraday X (FX), FF’s strategy of launching affordable high performance AIEV equipped vehicles with cutting edge technology, filling the U.S. market gap in this segment, and for general corporate purposes.

After two and a half years of preparation, Nio founder and CEO William Li officially launched on Saturday the group’s third brand — Firefly. At Nio Day 2024, the company’s annual event, Firefly unveiled a fully electric hatchback with pre-sales starting immediately.

With a pre-sale price of 148,800 yuan—equivalent to $20,400— reservations for the compact model can be made at the brand’s app. Deliveries start in China in April 2025 while Europe will follow later in the year.