Warren Buffett scored 3,000% gains in electric car stock without Rivian or Tesla — here are 3 EV stocks flying under Wall Street’s radar

After a white-hot early November, electric vehicle stocks have declined sharply over the past month or so. But for investors who got in early enough and stuck around, the returns are still solid.

Rivian Automotive, which debuted on Nasdaq last month at $78 per share, continues to trade near $100. And Lucid Group, which went public through a SPAC deal this summer, remains up 55% over the past two months.

Then there’s Tesla, which despite its recent pullback, is up a whopping 2,210% over the last five years.

Warren Buffett isn’t known for chasing hype, but that doesn’t mean he’s missing out on the EV boom.

In fact, Buffett bought into the industry more than a decade ago. He poured hundreds of millions into Chinese electric-vehicle maker BYD, and that bet continues to pay off handsomely.

Here’s a look at the legendary investor’s favorite EV stock — along with two other Chinese manufacturers that may be worth pouncing on with any extra cash you’ve got.

BYD (BYDDY)

Jengtingchen / Wikimedia Commons

In 2008, Buffett’s company Berkshire Hathaway bought 225 million shares of BYD for $232 million.

Berkshire’s latest shareholder letter shows it still held those shares as of Dec. 31, 2020 — except their market value had surged to roughly $5.9 billion.

Considering that BYD has gone up another 25% this year, Buffett’s company would have racked up another $1.48 billion gain on that position, assuming he hasn’t sold any shares.

And there’s more to the company than just hype. In Q3, BYD sold 183,000 new electric vehicles (including hybrids), up 294% year over year. And when it comes to pure EVs, the company sold 91,616, representing a 186% increase.

Despite its entrenched position, BYD shares are not listed in America. They only trade over the counter here, so you would need to use a specialized broker. But other fast-growing Chinese EV makers have made it to U.S. stock exchanges.