Nikola started making trucks on March 21 in its Coolidge plant in Arizona. Don’t ask us why, but it only celebrated the commercial serial production on April 27, probably because the first shipments of the Tre BEV have just started.
The ceremony included the Arizona governor, fleet customers, and government officials apart from Nikola’s executives. The plant should be able to manufacture 2,500 electric trucks in the factory in what the company calls Phase 1. Nikola is already building Phase 2, which will include the Tre FCEV in 2023 and should expand production capacity to 20,000 trucks per year in two shifts.
Governor Doug Ducey praised the company for its achievement. He said that “Nikola has become a driving force in Arizona’s rapidly expanding electric vehicle industry.” According to Sandra Watson, president and CEO of the Arizona Commerce Authority, Nikola is “a top employer in the region” even after only getting started.
The company has not disclosed how many customers are already getting the Tre BEV nor how many units will be delivered in this first shipment. In 2022, it already said it plans to produce between 300 to 500 trucks. Supply shortages are to blame for the low number.
Despite that, Nikola’s customers are in much better shape than Pepsico. In November 2021, Ramon Laguarta said the company was about to receive the Tesla Semi. Five months later, the Pepsico CEO is still waiting for them.
According to Nikola, its factory in Ulm, Germany, is also complete. Curiously, the company said at its Capital Markets Day that the factory would only start making trucks by June 2023. In February, it said it expected “to build and deliver 25 trucks to the Hamburg Port Authority” in 2022. We’ll try to understand the steps for the German factory with the company.
When the Ulm factory starts its operations at full throttle, it will be able to produce 2,000 units. If demand increases, Nikola can scale that to up to 10,000 electric trucks per year.
Apart from the Tre BEV, the company also bets on the Two FCEV. So far, Nikola has not talked much about its development, probably because Tre BEV and Tre FCEV sales will help fund it. Before that, Nikola also has to establish the hydrogen network it proposed to create, making the Two FCEV arrival a bit easier by 2025. As a long-hauler with up to 900 miles of range, it will need hydrogen stations strategically placed around the U.S. to make it a viable option in goods transportation.
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