Nikola Corporation recently announced that it is working on prototypes of the new Nikola Tre semi-truck, with plans to begin testing later this year. The EV startup aims to launch the vehicles commercially by Q4 of 2021.
Nikola Two pictured here.
Per a recent report from Reuters, Nikola is working with vehicle equipment maker CNH Industrial to build the new Nikola Tre semi-truck prototypes. The announcement comes just days after Nikola was lambasted by a report from Hindenburg Research that accuses the EV startup of taking part in “intricate fraud.”
The Hindenburg report outlines how Nikola founder, Trevor Milton, overstated the company’s tech capabilities, including accusations that the company’s new battery system does not exist, and that some components the company claims as its own were actually purchased from other companies.
The report is titled “Nikola: How to parlay An Ocean of Lies Into a Partnership With the Largest Auto OEM in America,” referring to a recently announced strategic partnership between General Motors and Nikola.
Under the new partnership, GM will build and validate the Nikola Badger EV pickup truck, while also providing the its Ultium battery system and Hydrotec fuel cell technology, the latter of which will be used to power the Nikola Tre, Nikola Two, and Nikola One semi-trucks. Meanwhile, GM takes an 11-percent stake in Nikola.
“Fuel cells will become increasingly important to the semi-truck market because they are more efficient than gas or diesel,” GM recently said in a press release. “General Motors sees additional growth opportunities in multiple transportation, stationary and mobile-power end markets.”
As we covered previously, a former General Motors executive, Steve Girsky, helped to move the new partnership deal forward.
Nikola One pictured here.
Nikola shares soared following the announcement that the company was partnering with GM, but tanked after the Hindenberg report was released days later. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has launched a probe to verify some of the claims made in the latest Hindenburg report, including allegations that Nikola misled investors.
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Comments
no gravity assist this time?
Interesting timing.
Looks like its rolling down hill again.
GM got a great deal on something absolutely worthless. Great investment. Nikola owes GM a lot and if i had to guess wont deliver on any of it just as it has in the past.
I was watching FOX Business channel a couple of months ago and saw Nikola CEO Trevor Milton as he said that their EV were powered by a battery with a newly patented battery chemistry capable of greater efficiency than Tesla; but again, going down a hill doesn’t require any electrical power.
Sound like a GMC trucks with a Nikola logo slapped on.
The conservative German daily “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung” (FAZ) reported today that Trevor Milton resigned from CEO duties at Nikola and was replaced by Steve Girsky. FAZ also wrote that Bosch, the German company which produces lots of mainly electric and electronic components for the automobile industry has a contract with Nikola to deliver (unspecified) parts.
The Ulm regional daily “Südwestpresse” (SWP) reported on February 7, 2020, that the Nikola Tre is based on the Iveco S-Way-Plattform, and that the Ulm factory (formerly of Magirus fire figher equipment on trucks) is resuming building trucks and should have several prototypes ready for presentation at the IAA Nutzfahrzeuge scheduled this 24th to 30th September in Hannover, Germany, but cancelled in May due to the Corona Crisis (more time for Nikola!).
SWP also said that the truck is being developed in the Ulm Iveco center by Iveco engineers together with Nikola engineers.
Iveco factories in Spain are said to deliver modules for the production of the Nikola Tre in Ulm.
Ulm is a city in south-west Germany on the left band of the Donau river, which forms the border between the federal states Baden-Württemberg and Bayern (Bavaria) at that point. Opposite Ulm, on the right, Bavarian bank of the Donau, is the smaller city Neu-Ulm (New Ulm).
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URL for the SWP article (in German!): swp dot de/suedwesten/staedte/ulm/iveco-ulm-zuschlag-fuer-elektro-und-brenstoffzellen-lkw-geht-an-werk-im-donautal-43341219.html
News from Iveco Ulm (Germany), a press release dated September 15, 2021:
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IVECO and Nikola inaugurate joint-venture manufacturing facility for electric heavy-duty trucks in Ulm, Germany
​The partnership between the global commercial vehicles manufacturer and the US-based group specializing in zero-emission Class 8 heavy-duty trucks and related energy solutions is about to begin its manufacturing journey in Ulm, Germany.
An exciting new chapter in IVECO and Nikola Corporation’s sustainable transport story set course today in Ulm, Germany as the manufacturing facility dedicated to the Nikola Tre electric heavy-duty trucks was unveiled to the public, ready to start production by year end. A milestone reached at record speed and delivered on schedule as previously communicated by IVECO, the commercial vehicles brand of CNH Industrial (NYSE: CNHI / MI: CNHI), and Nikola Corporation (NASDAQ: NKLA). The first Nikola Tre models produced here will be delivered to select customers in the United States in 2022. In addition to the battery-electric vehicle (BEV) production model, the next evolution of this modular heavy-duty platform was also on display to the public in the form of the fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV) prototype of the Nikola Tre. This subsequent model will enter production in Ulm by the end of 2023.
[…]
Spanning 50,000 square meters, of which 25,000 are covered, the Ulm manufacturing facility features a final assembly process that has been designed for “electric-born” vehicles. This site, and first phase of industrialization, represents joint investment by IVECO and Nikola and involves a projected 160 suppliers in the process from start to finish. The production line is currently anticipated to be capable of manufacturing approximately 1,000 units per shift per year and is expected to undergo progressive ramp-up in the following years.
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Full text at iveco dot com/en-us/
press-room/release/Pages/IVECO-and-Nikola-inaugurate-joint-venture.aspx
BTW, EXOR decided to spin off Iveco from CNH-I as a separate company, as they did spin off Ferrari from FCA a couple of years ago.