2 Top Electric Vehicle (EV) Stocks to Buy in October

Want to add massive long-term growth potential to your portfolio? Check out electric car stocks.

Many EV makers have seen their sales skyrocket in recent years. Yet their stock prices haven't always followed suit, creating several compelling buying opportunities over the years. This month looks like an especially great time to jump in.

If you want to buy into the world's adoption of EVs -- a story that is truly a multi-decade growth opportunity -- then these two stocks are for you. One you've likely heard of. But the other is a diamond in the rough.

Don't be shy about buying shares in Tesla

Perhaps the most popular EV maker in the world is Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA). Its boisterous CEO, Elon Musk, is constantly making the news. And with nearly $100 billion in sales, Tesla dominates the EV industry of several major markets, the U.S. included.

You're likely already familiar with the company's lineup. Tesla offers premium models like the Roadster, Model X, Cybertruck, and the Model S. But it also offers a few mass-market vehicles. These are typically vehicles under the $50,000 price mark, a common benchmark for gleaning whether a car or truck will be accessible to the masses.

While Tesla does have exposure to other markets like energy generation and storage, more than 90% of its revenue is still tied to its EV business. And while its luxury models helped put it on the map, it really was its two mass-market models -- the Model Y and Model 3 -- that helped Tesla's sales grow by more than 1,000% over the past decade. After all, the volumes that can be achieved through a $50,000 car are perhaps an order of magnitude higher than what can be achieved with a $100,000 car.

Due to weaker-than-expected sales growth this year for the EV industry, the stocks of most EV producers have suffered. Tesla hasn't been immune to these pressures, but its valuation still doesn't look like an obvious bargain. Shares currently trade at 7.9 times sales -- roughly what they traded for nearly two years ago, when quarterly sales growth was around 30%.

But a bet on Tesla today isn't about the near term -- it's about the multidecade growth trajectory for EVs in general. The IEA forecasts EV demand to grow by double digits for decades to come. And Tesla has what most EV start-ups only dream of: access to capital.

So while the stock isn't as big of a bargain as the next stock on this list, Tesla is still a reasonable investment for those looking to bet on EV companies with the best chance of riding the long-term EV adoption wave.