Solid Power Plunges 21.11%—Is the EV Battery Sector's Freefall Over?

Summary
• Solid Power (SLDP) crashes 21.11% intraday to $3.195, hitting a 52-week low of $0.68
• QuantumScape (QS) slumps 13.89%, signaling sector-wide jitters
• Analysts project 39% downside for SLDP, with mixed Wall Street ratings
• Turnover surges to 18.9 million shares, reflecting panic selling

July 29, 2025, marks a bloodbath for Solid Power as the auto parts sector convulses. The stock’s 21% freefall—its worst intraday performance since its 2021 IPO—has investors scrambling. With QuantumScape and other EV battery peers following suit, the crisis extends beyond SLDP. Analysts warn of a potential 39% drop in the coming year, while technical indicators flash bearish signals. This collapse raises urgent questions about the sector’s fundamentals and investor sentiment.

Auto Parts Sector Turbulence Sparks SLDP’s Freefall
Solid Power’s 21% plunge is a direct fallout from the auto parts sector’s broader slump. Key catalysts include waning EV demand, regulatory headwinds, and deteriorating consumer confidence. The company’s 18% two-day loss—now a 22% total decline—mirrors QuantumScape’s $2.4 billion market cap erosion. Analysts attribute this to slowing vehicle sales and overleveraged balance sheets in the EV battery space. Additionally, Wall Street’s one-year target of $2.00 for SLDP—a 39% downside from current levels—underscores institutional skepticism. The stock’s collapse reflects a perfect storm of macroeconomic pressures and sector-specific fragility.

EV Sector Mixed Consumer Confidence as JCI Leads Downturn
The auto parts sector is in freefall, with Johnson Controls (JCI) trailing a 7.54% intraday decline, amplifying concerns about systemic fragility. Solid Power’s collapse aligns with QuantumScape’s 13.89% drop and broader ETF pain in the Invesco WilderHill Clean Energy ETF (PBW), which fell 3.57%. The sector’s underperformance highlights a flight to safety, as investors abandon EV battery plays amid decelerating adoption and regulatory uncertainty.

ETF and Technical Playbook for the Bearish Surge
• 200-day average: 1.510 (well below current price)
• RSI: 79.17 (overbought, suggesting exhaustion)
• Bollinger Bands: Price at lower band (1.594), signaling potential bounce or continuation
• MACD: 0.59 (bullish) vs. signal line 0.49 (mixed)

SLDP’s technicals paint a bearish picture. The RSI at 79.17 indicates overbought conditions, while the stock’s proximity to the 200-day average (1.510) suggests further downward momentum. Traders should watch the $3.185 intraday low as a critical support level. The PBW ETF offers a leveraged play on the sector’s struggles, though its 3.46% drop mirrors SLDP’s pain. Short-term traders may consider a bearish setup below $3.185, with a target near the 200-day average. However, the K-line’s short-term bullish trend complicates a purely bearish stance, warranting cautious entries.

Backtest Solid Power Stock Performance
The stock SLDP has experienced a -20% intraday plunge on July 29, 2020. Following this event, the stock showed a mixed performance over various time frames. The 3-day win rate was 47.84%, indicating that the stock recovered positively in three days, with a return of 0.56%. The 10-day win rate was slightly lower at 45.26%, with a return of 1.04% over that period. The 30-day win rate was 46.98%, with a return of 2.58%. The maximum return during the backtest period was 4.46%, which occurred on day 58 after the intraday plunge. This suggests that while SLDP had a positive rebound from the intraday low, the overall performance over longer periods was modest.

Sector in Freefall—What’s Next for Solid Power?
Solid Power’s 21% drop underscores the EV battery sector’s fragility. While technical indicators like RSI and Bollinger Bands hint at potential exhaustion, the sector’s fundamentals remain weak. QuantumScape’s 13.89% plunge reaffirms this trend. Investors should monitor the $3.185 support level and the 200-day average (1.510) for directional clues. A breakdown below $3.185 could trigger a test of the 52-week low at $0.68. For now, the sector’s pain is far from over—watch for further earnings disappointments and macroeconomic headwinds. Johnson Controls (JCI)’s 7.54% decline signals sector-wide fragility, reinforcing the need for defensive positioning.