© 2014 Getty Images / Getty Images News via Getty Images Tesla’s (NASDAQ: TSLA | TSLA Price Prediction) stock hit an all-time high in October 2025. It has collapsed since then. Year to date, it is down 22% against a flat market. One reason is that its car business is struggling. Wall St. was disappointed that it produced just over 408,000 vehicles in Q1 and delivered just over 358,000 vehicles. And, its vehicles are old, to the extent that they have changed little in several years. There was a time when the EV car business was not terrible. Tesla was the leader in what the world believed was the “next big thing” in the car industry. The miracle of Tesla’s stock is when it rose from $23 in June 2020 to $400 in November 2021. Tesla’s stock fell apart for several reasons. A number of these stemmed from founder Elon Musk losing interest in Tesla’s core EV business. He wanted self-driving cars and AI-driven robots. Although he lost his lead in China, he still has a foothold in Europe and leads the US market. The demise of the EV business in Western countries is overstated. The industry became less attractive when it was splintered four years ago. The large fossil fuel companies dumped billions of dollars into the market, each hoping to be the Tesla killer. Each has, in its turn, retreated. China remains the threat, but at least tariffs have mostly dampened its EV growth outside its own market, at least in very large countries. EVs have several disadvantages compared to gas-powered cars. The top of this list is public charger availability and range. Of course, public chargers are not as big a deal if EVs can go 400 miles, 500 miles, or even further on a single charge. Several of the old-world car companies think they have solved the range problems. Renault says it is close to offering a vehicle that can run 600 miles on a charge. Tiny EV company Lucid (NASDAQ: LCID) says it has crossed the 400-mile barrier. Tin EV company Rivian (NASDAQ: RIVN) says it can do the same. If Tesla can marry its market share and brand with a range that the public believes is acceptable, it is back in the car business. Robots won’t mean as much to shareholders if they mean much at all. Tesla’s stock will surge, if it gets down to business. About the Author