It has been a rough year or two for EV stocks, as the broader auto industry pumped the brakes on its previous spending plans on next-generation vehicle technologies. From General Motors Co. (ticker: GM) and Ford Motor Co. (F) cutting billions in related capital spending to the crash and burn of Tesla Inc. (TSLA), investors have every right to be skeptical of the near-term fate of EV stocks.
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That said, there remains long-term promise in electric vehicle investment opportunities. That includes both consumer adoption and commercial fleet sales, where a recent Cox Automotive report estimates 14% of fleets operate EVs today, with more than half of fleet operators expected to use EVs sometime in the next five years.
The trend is clear: While internal combustion engines are certainly not disappearing, most automotive experts agree that the shift toward electrification will continue — even if it doesn’t meet previous sky-high expectations. To capitalize on this long-term trend, then, investors may want to consider a position in one of these seven companies that represent the best EV stocks right now:
| EV stock | Market Capitalization* |
| BYD Co. Ltd. (OTC: BYDDY) | $155 billion |
| Volkswagen AG (OTC: VWAGY) | $54 billion |
| Wuling Motors Holdings Ltd. (OTC: WLMTF) | $152 billion |
| Li Auto Inc. (LI) | $30 billion |
| Nio Inc. (NIO) | $8.5 billion |
| Albemarle Corp. (ALB) | $7 billion |
| ChargePoint Holdings Inc. (CHPT) | $385 million |
*As of June 3 close.
BYD Co. Ltd. (OTC: BYDDY)
Market value: $155 billion
Chinese firm BYD is the top electric vehicle manufacturer in the world. As proof, BYD outproduced Tesla in Q4 of 2025 by almost 150,000 vehicles — and given recent brand tarnish thanks to Elon Musk’s high-profile involvement in government cuts, it is highly likely that BYD will only accelerate its lead across this year. The stock’s performance speaks for itself, with 80% gains over the last 12 months, but keep in mind this is a China-listed company that is available to domestic investors via “over the counter” markets rather than a major exchange. That means volume can be low, at only a few hundred thousand shares traded daily, which increases pricing risks. That said, the sheer scale and success of BYD makes it one of the best EV stocks to consider in 2025.
Volkswagen AG (OTC: VWAGY)
Market value: $54 billion
The phenomenon of “range anxiety,” where pure battery electric vehicles (BEVs) cause consumers to worry if they can get where they need to on a single charge, has fueled the rise of plug-in-hybrid sales as transitional products for new EV customers. Germany’s Volkswagen is a leader in both categories, with more than 1 million BEV and plug-in hybrid vehicles sold in 2024. As the largest vehicle manufacturer on the planet by total volume, it’s not surprising that Volkswagen is a leading producer of EVs, along with its offering of traditional internal combustion vehicles. But with a goal of increasing EV output to half of its total sales by 2030, this is clearly a stock that is working toward the future of mobility and not just resting on its past automotive success.
Wuling Motors Holdings Ltd. (OTC: WLMTF)
Market value: $152 million
China-based Wuling is a company with more than 40 years of operating history, with long-term relationships supplying drivetrains and other components for the Asian auto industry. But what makes this company so interesting right now is Wuling’s move into EVs, with an accessible “Mini” family of cars that go for just over $6,000. Their range is about 130 miles and, as the name implies, these are compact vehicles for urban use and not long family road trips. Still, the line has sold more than 1.5 million units since its 2020 launch and continues to gain market share in China. With recent trade war dust-ups and the home-grown potential of this brand, Wuling is another stock to watch — just remember, it also trades OTC and could see thin volume. And as a small-cap company, it could also be more volatile and carry more risk than established EV automakers.
Li Auto Inc. (LI)
Market value: $30 billion
Though many times larger from a market value perspective, Li Auto is another China-based company that represents the more aggressive flavor of EV stocks out there. Shares are up about 40% in the last 12 months, but have regularly whipsawed from highs over $30 a share to lows under $20 a share — so whether investors think this is a big winner or a big loser may be a trick of timing rather than the fundamentals of this stock. The company recently announced that it delivered 40,856 vehicles in May 2025, representing a year-over-year increase of 17% and an impressive 45% jump from its May 2023 production volume. That growth path is encouraging to see, but at an annual run rate of about 500,000 vehicles when larger companies are cranking out more than 1 million EVs, there is clearly risk here as Li tries to move up in the pack.
Nio Inc. (NIO)
Market value: $8.5 billion
Another junior EV stock with a similar story, Nio is an up-and-comer that just announced 89,225 vehicle deliveries from January through May — up about 35% year over year compared with early 2024 numbers. That pace is even smaller than Li Auto and makes it a secondary player in China. However, the potential for growth is clear, and Nio continues to steadily increase production at a higher rate than its peers. Unlike some of those peers, however, Nio stock is in the red over the last year — and down more than 90% from its short-lived highs in 2021. That could signify persistent negative sentiment, but on the plus side, there’s not the same risk of frothy valuations as some other small EV manufacturers.
Albemarle Corp. (ALB)
Market value: $7 billion
As the largest and most prominent lithium producer on Wall Street, Albemarle is a way to play the EV revolution without worrying about which nameplate consumers are shopping for. The company is one of the leading lithium miners globally, with an annual production capacity of 225,000 metric tons and plans to roughly triple that capacity by 2030. That includes a key long-term contract with the government of minerals-rich Chile, where ALB has rights to extract about 80,000 metric tons of lithium annually through 2043 — a rare amount of certainty in an otherwise volatile commodity marketplace. ALB doesn’t have control over market pricing of this key battery metal, however, and has seen shares cut in half over the last 12 months as lithium prices have cratered from $80,000 per ton in 2022 before falling to a low of $13,000 last year. But if you’re a long-term believer in EVs, then ALB remains a key supplier of the industry worth watching.
ChargePoint Holdings Inc. (CHPT)
Market value: $385 million
A variation on this theme outside of EV manufacturers themselves, ChargePoint is the largest electric vehicle charging company in the United States, with more charging ports and locations than any other network. Specifically, CHPT boasts roughly 342,000 charging locations with a massive market share, with about half of all level 2 chargers in the U.S. at present and its smaller peers fighting for the rest of the market. The company is small and currently unprofitable, so it carries a level of risk, but investors who want to invest closer to the U.S. market can have faith in this domestically owned charging firm. What’s more, the steady growth of EVs means demand for charging infrastructure is all but certain to grow — making this a long-term bet on the megatrend that could hold as much potential as the manufacturers themselves.
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7 Best EV Stocks to Buy in 2025 originally appeared on usnews.com
Update 06/04/25: This story was published at an earlier date and has been updated with new information.
