"Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily" (Shanghai, editor Song Ziqiao) news, local time on Wednesday (23rd), new energy truck manufacturer Nikola (Nikola) announced that the Coolidge plant in Arizona, the United States, has started production of its first pure electric truck Nikola Tre on the 21st, planned to be delivered in the second quarter.
After the news broke, the stock rose 11.16% after hours.
The semi-trailer commercial truck Nikola Tre is Nikola's first model (see picture below), benchmarking the Tesla Semi truck. The electric version of the Tre has a shorter range of about 350 miles (about 563 kilometers), which is lower than the 500 miles (about 804 kilometers) of the hydrogen fuel cell version.
Previously, Nikolai said that it is expected to deliver 300 to 500 pure electric versions of the Tre to customers in 2022, contributing 90 million to 150 million US dollars in revenue, and the hydrogen fuel cell version of the Tre is expected to start shipping at the end of 2023.
The "killer" hydrogen energy heavy truck is just around the corner
Like Rivian, Nikolai was seen as a potential competitor to Tesla, and Nikolai and Tesla even got their names from the same person— the Serbian-American inventor, physicist, mechanical engineer, and electrical engineer Nikola Tesla. The difference is that Nikolai is listed with the aura of "the first share of hydrogen energy heavy trucks", which is different from Tesla and Rivian, who are also "lithium battery schools", and can be called "Tesla in the hydrogen energy industry".
But in terms of mass production schedule, Nikola is far behind Tesla and Rivian. Its hydrogen-fueled trucks currently have only prototypes, and the Nikola Tre has been delayed twice, and products the company once promised, such as electric pickup Badger and motor recreational vehicles, have been shelved. Since founder Trevor Milton was forced to step down in 2020 on fraud allegations, Nikolai's stock price has plummeted, from more than $90 per share to just $9, and is still below the issue price.
Nowadays, the pure electric version of the Tre finally embarked on the road of mass production, which is undoubtedly a major turning point for Nikolai, if Nikolai can successfully achieve the delivery target of 300 to 500 vehicles this year and revitalize the company's cash flow, it is expected to feed back its hydrogen energy business line, and the "killer model" hydrogen fuel cell version of the Tre is listed, just around the corner.