Nikola broke a nine-day stock price losing streak a week ago when it posted record second-quarter revenue. CEO Steve Girsky still enthusiastically believes 2024 will be the best year in company history. Yet, the electric truck maker has only enough cash on hand to last through the end of the year without further diluting investors by converting more shares.
Sweeping away the underbrush
Nikola no longer talks about convicted founder Trevor Milton, who recently dropped his $1 billion suit against current leadership. The company is still seeking reimbursement of a $165 million arbitration award it won against him in October. There’s been scant progress in a cat-and-mouse hunt for where Milton might have parked his money.
The repair and return to owners and dealers of fire-prone battery-electric trucks recalled a year ago remains on track for the end of the year.
The company’s focus for the rest of the year is on delivering a promised 300-350 fuel cell electric trucks and establishing 14 places in the U.S. and Canada to fuel them. Nikola may resume building battery-electric trucks next year but only for specific orders, not for dealer stock.
The production of 72 fuel cell trucks in Q2 was announced weeks before last Friday’s earnings report. Nikola opened a modular fueling site in Santa Fe Springs, California, near the I-5 on Monday, creating a triangle of hydrogen availability in Southern California.
Cash remains tight and survival still at issue
Still, Nikola remains at risk of not being able to survive through the next year as a going concern. But, really, what else is new? The company has befuddled doomsayers again and again. Some facts are just plain ugly. Nikola:
- Consumed 99% of legacy shareholders’ stock value since going public via a special purpose acquisition company run by Girsky’s VectoIQ in June 2020.
- Raised the current number of outstanding shares to 50.6 million from 17 million at the end of 2022, making each share less valuable to investors.
- Had just $256.3 million of unrestricted cash as of June 30, enough to run the business through the end of the year without raising more money.
- Is likely to keep tapping a $600 million at-the-market equity distribution agreement with Citibank, further diluting current shareholders.
But Q2 results pointed to some positives. Nikola:
- Recorded small sales of pollution credits earned on the sale of zero-emission trucks.
- Realized $7,000 more per fuel cell truck sold in Q2 than in Q1 – $388,000 versus $381,000. Total Q2 revenue of $31.3 million was up 318% from Q1.
- Received repeat orders for fuel cell trucks from two national accounts, including marine drayage company IMC.
- Dispensed more than 77 metric tons of hydrogen at its Hyla fueling outlets, avoiding approximately 867 metric tons of carbon dioxide tailpipe emissions.
Sense of urgency
Nikola’s marketing team sent an email to potential customers this week with the subject line “Urgent: Time is Running Out to Secure HVIP Funding Before It’s Gone!”
The company reminded customers that California Hybrid and Zero-Emission Truck and Bus Voucher Incentive Project vouchers could be phased out by the end of the year for 2022 Nikola Tre battery-electric vehicles.
Changes to the HVIP program may sever a sales lifeline Nikola has counted on. The company holds 99% of HVIP vouchers for fuel cell trucks and 23% of BEV vouchers.
The email also noted that while more than $261 million in HVIP funds remained as of July 23, the money was going quickly. Changes coming in 2025 will make it harder for large fleets to qualify while small fleets could get double incentives and save up to 90% of the cost of an FCEV.
“We go to work every day like our life depends upon it because it does,” Girsky told me.
TuSimple pivots to … movies and video games
The news release could have come as one of those April Fools’ Day announcements. But it’s not April and this apparently is for real: Autonomous truck developer TuSimple is going into the movie and video game business.
The company signed a partnership with Shanghai Three Body Animation to develop the first animated feature film and video game based on the Hugo Award-winning science fiction novel series “The Three-Body Problem.”
The newly created business segment leverages TuSimple’s capabilities with a focus on generative AI applications in animation and video games.
movies and games. (Image: Amazon)
“The globally acclaimed ‘The Three-Body Problem’ series provides an exceptional canvas to showcase our emerging generative AI capabilities, which we believe will provide a near-term path to commercialization,” Cheng Lu, TuSimple president and CEO, said in a news release Wednesday.
“We intend to collaborate with world-class creative talent to ensure exceptional storytelling. Our goal is to amplify human creativity, help shorten development timelines and address the backlog of projects in the industry.”
San Diego-based TuSimple voluntarily delisted from the Nasdaq and shut down most U.S. operations that once led the nascent autonomous trucking industry. TuSimple appears to be keeping its focus on Asia.
Briefly noted …
Workhorse Group delayed its second-quarter earnings from Wednesday until next Tuesday, a possibly ominous sign for the financially troubled electric van maker.
Mack Trucks is refreshing its medium-duty MD Series with a larger cab and enhanced safety feature.
Volvo has been using fossil-free steel in manufacturing since 2021. A report from the International Council on Clean Transportation says the U.S. and European auto industry can do likewise.
Kevin Bangston takes over as president and CEO of Daimler Truck Financial Services North America effective Sept. 1, succeeding Richard Howard, who is retiring.
After showing the first hydrogen fuel cell-powered refuse truck earlier this year, Hyzon and refuse body builder New Way Trucks are conducting demos in the U.S. and Canada.
May. (Photo: Hyzon)
Cummins Inc. continues to rebrand pieces of its business. Now it is Power Onward to capture the engine maker’s commitment to cleaner power.
Truck Tech Episode 78: Nikola’s Steve Girsky on what’s going right and challenges facing the fuel cell truck maker
There’s still time to use this discount offer for your Future of Freight Festival tickets in Chattanooga, Tennessee, this November. But time is running out to submit nominations for the FreightTech 25. Nominations close at 6 p.m. EDT on Sept. 6. Winners will be announced at F3.
That’s it for this week. Thanks for reading and watching. Click here to subscribe and get Truck Tech delivered to your email on Fridays. And catch the latest episodes of the Truck Tech podcast and video shorts on the FreightWaves YouTube channel. Send your feedback on Truck Tech to Alan Adler at aadler@firecrown.com.