In recent years, the American automotive market has been one of extreme turbulence. In the wake of the electric car revolution spearheaded by Tesla, dozens of new automakers have emerged to take on industry giants. With Detroit companies failing to get a jump on the EV movement, there has been space on both the civilian and commercial markets for new organizations to have a chance at cementing themselves on the market.
While new automakers face many woes in their formation, Nikola Motor Company has faced an incredible amount of setbacks in its short existence. Despite this, the manufacturer continues to soldier on despite several lawsuits, production woes, and clamoring buyers such as Amazon, who are beginning to get impatient. It will be interesting to see how Nikola emerges, given their current circumstances.
11 They Are Currently Engaged in Several Lawsuits With Tesla
When Nikola arrived on the electric vehicle scene in 2016, they immediately caught the attention of Tesla, which was developing their semi at the time. The initial issue between the two companies was name similarity, but things quickly became even more charged after Tesla unveiled their semi in 2017. In May 2018, Nikola sued Tesla for $2 Billion, claiming Tesla infringed on their design, specifically the wraparound windshield. Tesla responded by stating the majority of Nikolas's product had been stolen from another competitor, Rimac, and that Nikola was engaging in shady business practices after attempting to poach several Tesla engineers. Tesla also dismissed any design similarities as coincidental.
As of June 2021, the two manufacturers are still in a heated legal battle, mainly because the USPTO granted both manufacturers unique design patents, despite both manufacturers claiming that the other had stolen intellectual property. Regardless of whoever wins this battle, Nikola is accruing huge legal debts, a potential deal with General Motors was supposed to relieve some stress, but it fell apart at the end of 2020.
10 Nikola One: A Hydrogen-Electric Sleeper Semi
The Nikola One will be the companies first product to reach mass production. The Hydrogen-Electric Class 8 Sleeper Semi is designed to be one of the first long-haul sleep semis to enter the American market. Its hydrogen-electric nature allows for short refueling stops at hydrogen stations while maintaining being a 0 emissions vehicle. While waiting 15-30 minutes at a quick charger is viable for civilian consumers, it is simply too much downtime for commercial buyers. A truck's downtime is what has stunted electric vehicles from permeating the commercial vehicle market.
The Nikola One will be able to replenish its hydrogen supply in only a few minutes, putting it on par with other commercial semi refueling times. Each of the truck's six wheels is powered by its own electric motor providing the truck with a total of 2,000 horsepower. Nikola is currently building its own network of hydrogen stations at commercial truck stops along major routes across the country. Buyers leasing the truck will have free unlimited use of the stations.
9 Nikola Two: A City Semi Designed for Regional Transport
The Nikola Two features many of the benefits of the Nikola one, but in a smaller package designed for regional commercial transportation. The Nikola Two will feature the same hydrogen-electric powertrain at launch as the two, with an all-electric version coming shortly after. The all-electric version will be cheaper but will also have a shorter range and lower towing capacity. In addition, the Nikola Two features a similar cab design as the One, just sans the sleeper section.
The cheap running cost and more compact length make the truck an excellent contender for regional distributors. Prominent names like Amazon, UPS, and Anheuser-Busch have already ordered several hundred units, helping with development costs.
8 Hindenburg Report Fraud Allegations
Nikola received its most significant setback in September 2020 when Wall Street's Hindenburg Research released an extensive, scathing detailed report claiming that Nikola Motor Company was nothing more than a massive scam. The forensic financial research company stated that Nikolas's proprietary hydrogen technology does not exist. The company and their prototypes were an elaborate well-orchestrated fraud designed to con significant companies like Amazon out of millions.
Nikola's response made it only worse. They admitted that the prototypes did not function under the technology that production examples would and that they had edited promotional footage to make the vehicles appear to be moving under their own power. Following this, the companies value plummeted 60% though contracts for production facilities and suppliers indicate the company intends to produce the vehicles. Nikola has made no comments regarding the mechanical details of their hydrogen propulsion technology, stating it as a trade secret.
7 The Founder Has Stepped Down
Following Nikola nearly imploding after the scathing allegations went viral, former CEO Trevor Milton stepped down from the company. This came as a significant shock to investors and further contributed to the companies instability on the stock market. From the beginning, Milton followed in the steps of Elon Musk becoming the figurehead of the company. It was an extreme surprise for many to see him step down in the face of adversity against his company. His departure was met with an immediate personal investigation with the Security Exchange Commission, who, as of June 2021, have not concluded their investigation.
The mess of allegations brought on by the Hindenburg Report has since caused General Motors to pull out of their financial dealings with Nikola. Despite all of this, the new CEO, Steve Girsky, is confident he can get the company back on track for production.
6 900-1200 Miles of Range
Nikola's range of trucks can suit a diverse set of needs depending on how the consumer operates. The Nikola One is expected to be introduced with 1200 miles of range, while the two will come in slightly shorter with just 900 miles of range. The shorter wheelbase of the Nikola Two necessitates a smaller battery pack, resulting in a shorter range. The proposed range of the entire lineup, however, falls within 300 miles of each other.
While the all-electric iteration is confirmed, no proposed range number has yet been made available. However, that hasn't stopped several large companies from already placing substantial preorders for the city-designed regional semi-trucks.
5 20 Minute Charge And Refuel Time
Since the Nikola One and Two runs on liquid hydrogen that is later converted back to electric energy, they have an extremely competitive refuel time. It will take less than 20 minutes to fully refill a Nikola One from zero returning its range to 1200 miles. The on-site hydrogen facilities being developed by Nikola will be explicitly designed for the One and Two. On-site electrolysis will allow the site to remain self-contained.
The onsite facility is self-contained and eliminates the concern that a station will "run out" of hydrogen. Despite additional energy being used compared to a pure battery electric vehicle, this system allows the Nikola One to run solely off renewable resources.
4 Starting Price for the Nikola One
The Nikola One will be released with a targeted starting price of $375,000. Most companies, however, will likely lease the truck, as there are several commercial benefits to the lease. This is a standard industry practice with most semi-trucks but makes even more sense with Nikola products. Nikola has promised free unlimited hydrogen refueling at Nikola sites for the duration of the four-year lease.
When you consider the potential savings on fuel alone, it is easy to understand why giant players quickly preordered Nikola and Tesla semis alike.
3 14 Billion in Preorders
At launch, Nikola motors immediately captured the eyes of industry leads. Even with production a few years away, it was clear how much the potential savings could be for companies commercially using the Nikola one. Within a month after release, Nikola had 2.4 billion in pre-orders, and to date, that number has grown to 14 billion. Helping to keep the fluttering company are corporate giants like Anheuser-Busch, who has an outstanding order for 800 units.
However, amid growing concerns involving Nikola's financial stability, some large orders from companies like Amazon have switched their demands for new contracts with Tesla and Rivian. It is clear that companies are starting to grow tired of the waiting game, though Nikola maintains total production is imminent as they complete the construction of their Arizona facility.
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1 2024 Targeted Production Date
Nikola has been very hard-pressed to give consumers and the motoring press a solid production start date. Initially, production was supposed to begin in 2019. Factory construction woes soon delayed production until a late 2021 target.
Given recent events, Nikola has had to scale back its production targets. The completed factory will have less production capability than anticipated and will be able to produce 35,000 trucks a year at launch. The date has also been postponed to late 2023 or 2024, per Nikola's official press release. It will be interesting to find out whether or not Nikola can overcome these difficulties, for if they do, they will able to cement their place among the greats with an exceptional product.