Tesla Rises 4% as DeSantis Vows to Make Flying Roadster Legal in Florida; Rivian and Lucid Slip

Quick Read

• DeSantis vowed to legalize Tesla’s flying Roadster in Florida, sending TSLA up 4% while RIVN and LCID each slipped about 1%.

• QQQ’s 2% tech rally explains part of Tesla’s gain, but the Roadster pledge drove the extra boost above the broader market.

• Federal regulators, not states, control flying vehicle approval, making DeSantis’s pledge mostly symbolic with production still years away.

A pledge from Florida’s governor is lifting one electric vehicle maker while its smaller rivals retreat. Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) shares are up 4% to $367.59 in afternoon trading after Florida Governor Ron DeSantis promised to make the company’s flying Roadster legal in his state.

Meanwhile, Rivian Automotive (NASDAQ:RIVN) shares are down 0.9% to $12.31, trailing well behind the gain in Tesla shares, and Lucid Group (NASDAQ:LCID) is off by 1.12% to $3.10.

The divergence points to a reaction to the Roadster headline that’s specific to Tesla, and Rivian and Lucid are smaller pure-play EV makers that aren’t yet profitable.

DeSantis Pledges Florida Will Make the Roadster Legal

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis took to X. He declared that his state will make Tesla’s flying Roadster legal, writing, “We will make sure that it’s legal.” His comments followed Tesla’s revealing of the long-delayed Roadster last week.

At that event, a version of the Roadster fitted with air tanks and thrusters launched off a ramp, flew briefly and landed on its wheels. The demonstration turned a sports car Tesla has promised for years into a showcase for its engineering ambitions, and the governor’s pledge now adds a political boost.

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Tesla stock is also rising alongside a broad rebound in technology names, so the Roadster headline is one of two forces behind the move. Large-cap tech is strong, with the Invesco QQQ Trust (NASDAQ:QQQ) up 2%. That gap with Tesla stock suggests the Roadster pledge is giving Tesla an extra boost on top of the tech rally.

Tesla Pulls Away From Rivian and Lucid

The Global X Autonomous & Electric Vehicles ETF (NASDAQ:DRIV) is up 1%, a smaller advance than Tesla shares are posting. Its portfolio spans automakers, chipmakers, battery suppliers and autonomy software firms, which reduces the effect of any headline about a single company.

Rivian builds the R1T pickup, the R1S SUV and commercial electric delivery vans, and it’s launching the mid-size R2 SUV to reach a broader market. Lucid designs the Air sedan and the Gravity SUV, assembling them in Arizona while preparing a second plant in Saudi Arabia for production. A software and services section, including a joint venture with Volkswagen Group, gives Rivian another source of revenue.

Closer to the governor’s home state, Tesla runs its Robotaxi service in several U.S. metros, including unsupervised rides in Miami, Orlando and Tampa. That Florida presence gives the governor’s endorsement extra weight for Tesla. Cybercab production has also begun at Tesla’s Gigafactory Texas, and lines for the Optimus humanoid robot are being installed.

Roadster Hype Meets Regulatory Reality

Federal regulators decide whether a vehicle can fly, so Florida’s endorsement carries mostly symbolic weight, and production isn’t expected for years while Tesla hasn’t announced a price for the flying version.

Optimists see the Roadster as evidence Tesla can still generate excitement around new hardware. However, a vehicle years from production and lacking federal clearance may add little to Tesla’s near-term results. Tesla’s growth pitch already leans on Full Self-Driving software, Megapack batteries and the Robotaxi service, leaving the Roadster at its edge.

Washington Holds the Key to the Flying Roadster

The next test for Tesla is whether the flying Roadster ever clears federal approval. Shareholders can watch for whether Florida officials follow up with details on how the state intends to honor the governor’s pledge.

A rally in Tesla shares while Rivian and Lucid shares are slipping shows the Roadster headline lifting a single name in the EV group. Traders may prefer to keep their TSLA stock exposure reasonably small. It’s wise to do so until the flying Roadster’s path to production resolves, the kind of fenced-off speculation we spelled out in a free guide to small-stakes bets.

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