MW Meet the best non-Tesla EV stocks of 2025
By William Gavin
That includes General Motors, the top-U.S. auto stock of the year, and Rivian, one of just a few companies only making electric vehicles.
Rivian Automotive plans to ramp up its autonomous driving efforts and launch a new electric vehicle in 2026.
Tesla is the undisputed leader in the electric vehicle industry. But several other electric car maker stocks have outpaced its growth this year.
That includes General Motors $(GM)$, which is on pace to be the best performer in the U.S. automotive industry in 2025 after its stock surged by more than 50%. The legacy automaker has impressed Wall Street in recent months, as it raised its adjusted earnings outlook after a strong third quarter.
That compares to Tesla $(TSLA)$ stock, which is trading about 12% higher compared with its price at the start of 2025, but down about 7% from its Dec. 16 record close of $489.88. Shares have been volatile this year for a number of reasons, including pushback against Tesla CEO Elon Musk and the promise of a ride-hailing network consisting of self-driving vehicles.
GM's gains come as the Detroit carmaker plans to invest billions into more hybrid and gas-powered vehicles and scale back EV investments in a less regulatory-friendly environment. But it's not giving up on electric cars, and plans to introduce a "family" of low-cost EVs to follow the early 2026 revival of the Chevrolet Bolt, an executive said in October.
"By acting swiftly and decisively to address overcapacity, we expect to reduce EV losses in 2026 and beyond," CEO Mary Barra, who maintained that EVs are GM's "North Star," said in an October letter to shareholders.
Several other legacy automaker stocks have performed well throughout 2025. That includes Hyundai Motor (KR:005380) and Toyota Motor $(TM)$ (JP:7203), whose stocks have risen by about 40% and 10%, respectively. Both of those companies include electric cars in their portfolios.
Rivian Automotive (RIVN), one of only a handful of "pure EV" U.S. companies, has also had a good year.
Its stock is up by about 49% for the year in recent afternoon trading Wednesday, even as the company is expected to sell roughly 17% fewer trucks and SUVs in 2025 compared with last year. Rivian hopes to improve its sales with a new, more affordable SUV called the R2, which is set for a 2026 launch.
It's also taking a leaf out of Tesla's book and focusing heavily on artificial intelligence. Earlier this month, it announced plans to make its own AI chips, and advance its suite of advanced driver assistance features.
"We see Rivian's AI and customer-focused autonomous approach as a way for Rivian to: materially boost customer demand, improve the unit economics of the business, mitigate some of the impact of the EV tax credit removal and cut into Tesla's market share," Cantor Fitzgerald analyst Andres Sheppard wrote in a recent note to investors.
Chinese automaker stocks are also on the rise.
The price of Nio's $(NIO)$ American depository shares has increased by more than 16% in 2025 after the automaker showed significant sales growth. Through November, Nio said it sold 949,457 EVs across its three brands, a 48% increase compared with the 640,426 units it had delivered during the same period in 2024.
U.S.-listed shares of Xpeng $(XPEV)$ are trading 72% higher compared with last year, even after the stock pulled back about 28% three-year closing high reached mid-November. After selling 78,741 EVs last through November, the company needed to sell about 50,000 units to meet its quarterly sales target. However, Xpeng has only sold some 34,000 EVs this month, according to estimates from Citi.
Other Chinese EV makers whose stocks have risen in 2025 include major Tesla rival BYD $(BYDDY)$ (CN:002594) and Geely Automobile Holdings $(GELHY)$ (HK:175), which owns Volvo (SE:VOLV.B) and the Swedish electric car brand Polestar $(PSNY)$. It also owns Zeekr, a premium EV company that was listed on the New York Stock Exchange until Geely took it private earlier this month.
There are also several companies working on expanding charging access for EVs, rather than developing vehicles, which would solve one of the most persistent reasons cited by consumers who don't want to buy an electric car. That's another area led by Tesla, which has over 48,000 charging ports in the U.S., according to federal data.
Behind Tesla is Electrify America, a subsidiary of Volkswagen (XE:VOW3), which is reportedly considering following Ford Motor's $(F)$ lead to develop range-extended EVs to make its electric offerings more attractive to consumers. Volkswagen's stock rose 14% this year, while Ford's climbed 33% as it pushed back EV plans in favor of boosting profit.
Most EV charging stocks didn't perform very well this year, partially due to roughness in the EV market. The stock of fast-charging network operator EVgo $(EVGO)$ has dropped 28% this year, while shares of Beam Global (BEEM) are down 52%. Wallbox $(WBX)$ stock has fallen by about 47% over the past three months, putting it on pace to end the year trading 76% lower than it was valued a year earlier.
-William Gavin
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(END) Dow Jones Newswires
December 31, 2025 13:22 ET (18:22 GMT)
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