Nikola pushes forward with zero-emission trucks

“In the second quarter of 2020, Nikola met predetermined milestones on our journey toward becoming the zero-emissions transportation leader in the global heavy truck market,” said Mark Russell, Nikola’s Chief Executive Officer at the announcement of Nikola's financial results for the second of 2020.

Steps towards achieving this goal include completing a reverse merger with VectoIQ, providing an additional $US616.7 million of cash on the balance sheet to support Nikola’s further product development, and the building of manufacturing infrastructure.

The company said in a press statement that product development is on track to meet the established timeline for the start of production of the Nikola Tre in the fourth quarter of 2021. Initial units will be produced at the Ulm, Germany facility, where modifications are currently underway.

During the second quarter, Nikola and Iveco began the buildout of the assembly facility dedicated to Nikola Tre at CNHI / Iveco’s Ulm, Germany Manufacturing Complex. Once completed, this facility will be capable of producing up to 10,000 trucks per year, and will produce the first Nikola Tre BEV trucks to be delivered to customers in the U.S.

Nikola Tre production test units are underway in Ulm and are scheduled to be complete in late 2020.

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Nikola Tre to be built in Ulm, Germany

In addition to the fitout of the Ulm factory, on July 23, 2020, Nikola broke ground on its manufacturing facility in Coolidge, Arizona. Once completed, the Coolidge facility is said to be capable of producing up to 35,000 trucks per year at full capacity on two shifts.

Phase one of this construction is expected to be complete by late 2021.

Nikola’s manufacturing facilities buildout is being overseen by Mark Duchesne, Nikola’s newly hired Head of Global Manufacturing. Duchesne is a five-year veteran of Tesla and a 22-year veteran of Toyota. Mark oversaw the design and development of the innovative Model S and Model X production lines at Tesla, and at Toyota, he was instrumental in the design and development of a $US900m greenfield facility.

Nikola’s hydrogen fuelling and battery charging activities are being overseen by the newly-hired President of Nikola Energy, Pablo Koziner. Mr Koziner is a 19-year veteran of Caterpillar, and most recently served as Vice President of CAT Electric Power and as President of Solar Turbines.

Nikola is working with Walbridge, the leading U.S. automotive facility construction organisation.

Nikola says it intends to begin fleet testing Tre BEV units in 2021 with select customers and partners.

The data received from the fleet testing program will be critical as the company moves toward low volume production of the Nikola Tre BEV. Management is optimistic as it continues to achieve milestones toward its goal of becoming the leader in the zero-emissions transportation industry.