The first copies have been delivered.
(Photo: Nikola Motor)
Phoenix, NY Nikola has reached an important milestone: As the electric truck manufacturer from Phoenix, Arizona, founded in 2014, announced on Thursday, it has delivered the first production models of its “Tre BEV” truck. Series production started on March 21, and the first vehicles were delivered to dealers in April.
A total of 510 trucks have been pre-ordered by customers. “In the first quarter, we reached an important milestone with the start of series production of the Nikola Tre BEV,” said CEO Mark Russell. “We look forward to ramping up production and delivering 300 to 500 production vehicles to customers this year.”
The news was well received on Wall Street. Nikola shares rose about five percent in early trading on Thursday. “Nikola beats Tesla,” was a particularly optimistic analyst comment: After all, the Nikola truck will go into series production before the “Semi” announced by Tesla.
The new head of the Nikola Motor division, Michael Lohscheller, is responsible for ramping up mass production. The former Opel boss took up his post a few weeks ago. “We are concentrating very much on the execution of our planning,” said Lohscheller in an interview with the Handelsblatt. “It’s an exciting time. Last week we delivered the first trucks, even the governor was there.”
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The 53-year-old did not want to comment on the problematic story – the company had been targeted by the stock exchange supervisory authority due to misleading announcements. Just this much: “In the past there have been announcements but no implementation. We are changing that now.”
Nikola relies on batteries and hydrogen
Lohscheller is convinced: The future of the truck business is emission-free. The double formation of Nikola is all the more important. The electric truck production that is now starting is just one mainstay: “In the second half of next year we will start producing our hydrogen trucks.”
The former Opel boss is to ramp up mass production at Nikola.
(Photo: imago images/Jan Huebner)
The customer will decide which technology will prevail. “It’s great that the electric truck is on the market. Its range is 350 miles,” explains Lohscheller. That will be enough for many trips. “But there will be customers who want a longer range,” says Lohscheller.
The hydrogen truck is intended for them with a range of 500 miles, a good 800 kilometers. Another advantage is the quick refueling: Depending on the charger, it takes 100 minutes to fully charge the electric truck – hydrogen trucks can be fully refueled in 20 minutes. Bosch supplies the fuel cells.
Lohscheller announces that Nikola also wants to offer its customers energy for their own vehicles in the future. “We are a truck manufacturer, but also an energy company.” In Canada, the first filling station is being built, which will also produce hydrogen. More are to follow. The construction of a production plant is planned in Arizona.
According to Lohscheller, it is now crucial to ramp up production quickly. 300 to 500 electric trucks would be manufactured in Arizona this year. Production is scheduled to start in Ulm in 2023, where they work together with the German manufacturer Iveco. The planned annual capacity of the US factory is 20,000 vehicles. In Ulm, you start with a capacity of 2000 and then gradually expand to 10,000 units.
The price of the truck will be announced soon, said Lohscheller. At the analysts’ conference on Thursday, Nikola made it clear that the trucks produced in Ulm as part of the partnership with Inveco will carry the Nikola logo.
No profit yet
Nikola’s loss rose to $152 million in the first quarter, up from $120 million in the same period last year. Nikola does not plan profitably in the coming quarters either. Cash assets fell to $385 million from $522 million at the end of 2021. However, CFO Kim Brady said there were additional lines of liquidity to fall back on.
In addition, one can report an investment of a major investor in the amount of 200 million dollars. The number of employees rose to 1040. Nikola is also struggling with the consequences of the Ukraine war and supply chain difficulties in the wake of the Covid lockdown in China, explained Brady. However, the outlook for the year does not have to be adjusted.
>>> Read here: “The diesel is becoming obsolete” – fleet managers swear by electric trucks
The analysts at the major US bank JP Morgan are convinced that Nikola must now prove that it can also achieve the delivery targets presented. A lot now depends “on the speed of production setup and deliveries”. “More importantly, in our opinion, is Nikola’s annual guidance of delivering 300 to 500 Tre BEV trucks.
With supply issues likely to increase, we wouldn’t be surprised if Nikola lowers targets.” Analysts expect 325 units to ship in 2022. However, the key to stock market success lies in the hydrogen strategy.
Nikola was considered a beacon of hope for alternative drive technologies in the truck sector, but is struggling with the consequences of a stock market scandal. Founder Trevor Milton has to answer in court. According to the indictment, he lied “in almost every aspect of the business” and misled retail investors. In 2020, the short seller Hindenburg Research explained in a report why Nikola’s technology could not keep up with the company’s ambitious visions.
More: “The diesel is becoming obsolete” – fleet managers swear by electric trucks