Compiled by?|?Yang Yuke
Edited by?|?Jane
Produced by?|?Bangning Studio (gbngzs)
Agreement Didn't meet the deadline.
On September 29, 2020, General Motors and Nikola stated that the agreement originally scheduled to be reached on September 30 to cooperate in the production of electric pickup trucks and hydrogen fuel cell tractor trailers has not yet been finalized. The two sides are continuing to negotiate.
"Our deal with Nikola has not yet been concluded." General Motors spokesman Juli Huston-Rough said in a statement, "We are continuing discussions with Nikola and will provide information when appropriate or needed." Latest developments. ”
Nikola’s statement echoed that of General Motors. Spokespeople for Huston-Rough and Nikola declined to comment further when asked whether terms of the deal were being renegotiated.
On September 29, Nikola’s stock price fell by 7.4 points, closing at $17.88. General Motors shares fell 2.4% to close at $28.74.
When the deal was first announced on September 8, Nikola said it expected the cooperation to be completed by September 30. He also added that if the agreement is not finalized by December 3, either party can terminate the agreement. In addition, General Motors was paid $700 million in advance to build the Nikola Badger pickup truck.
Given that Nikola’s current stock price is below $18 per share, GM’s estimated stake of 11 is worth less than half of its initial value.
In return, GM agreed to provide Nikola with batteries, a chassis structure, a factory to build Badger pickup trucks, and fuel cell systems for Nikola's planned heavy-duty trucks.
As part of the agreement, General Motors will also hold 80 credits for the Badger electric pickup truck and has the right to purchase the remaining credits at market prices, which will help GM offset its sales of fuel vehicles.
On September 10, short-selling agency Hindenburg issued a harshly worded report, calling Nikola a “liar” and bluntly criticizing Nikola’s founder and then executive chairman Trevor Milton exaggerated about Nikola’s proprietary technology.
Milton has denied the accusations. Nikola referred the matter to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (hereinafter referred to as SEC) and threatened to take legal action. According to reports, both the SEC and the U.S. Department of Justice have launched investigations into the matter, but neither department confirmed the matter to Reuters.
Milton, who held 25 shares of Nikola, resigned on September 21. The reason for his resignation was that he did not want to be distracted. He was replaced by board member and former GM Vice Chairman Steve Girsky. Earlier this year, Gersky's company, VectoIQ, took Nikola public through a reverse merger.
Hindenburg has previously stated that Milton’s withdrawal is only the beginning of Nikola’s disintegration. It warned GM to "carefully evaluate" the partnership's potential damage to the GM brand.
General Motors said it would support the deal, saying the deal was of strategic significance and would allow General Motors to expand its scale and cut costs.
On the other hand, in an effort to fight back against skeptics and get rid of the impact of "fraud accusations," Nikola went all out to demonstrate its innovation capabilities while detailing how it plans to bring new energy trucks to the market.
Beleaguered Nikola executives are talking to investors after the resignation of founder and former Chairman Milton to counter criticism of a lack of prototypes while clarifying a business plan .
Specific measures include highlighting existing or patent-pending technologies, detailing the roles played by partners, and milestones achieved to launch production.
CEO Mark Russell said in an interview: "Our message is the same as before. We have a tight ecosystem of partners, this huge circle of collaboration We can verify what we are doing. We believe we will produce a fuel cell truck within three years and a battery-powered truck within a year," said an anonymous person familiar with the company's plans. Nikola executives will arrange to communicate directly with the media and investors face-to-face rather than posting on social media as Milton previously favored.
This powerful offensive is to dispel investors’ doubts about Nikola’s business model. Last month, a bearish report questioned Nikola's capabilities and claimed progress. Nikola denies making false claims, but federal regulators are reportedly investigating the allegations against Nikola and Milton.
Since going public through a reverse merger in June this year, the company’s share price has fallen by nearly 50%.
Nikola has established technology-sharing relationships with industry giants Bosch and General Motors, both of which hold shares in Nikola.
This helps solidify the progress and potential value of Nikola's work as a system integrator on rapid projects, including a battery-electric pickup truck and a hydrogen fuel cell semi-trailer .
The Phoenix-based startup is also eager to show investors the company's internal technical information, which includes six patents for innovations that have been published in the United States, such as a custom-made frame for fuel cell trucks.
According to a document seen by Bloomberg, the company has several other pending U.S. patent applications, such as fuel cell membranes, catalysts, hydrogen storage, rapid refueling systems and system control technology.
One person familiar with the matter believes that although these patents represent future potential, commercialization will take many years. For now, Nikola will rely on Bosch's fuel cells to build prototypes next year.
The person familiar with the matter said that Nikola believes that General Motors’ fuel cell technology is more mature than Bosch, but using General Motors technology, the installation and compression of the fuel cell take longer, and the power management system still needs Adjustments will need to be made to fit the Nikola truck design.
Nikola plans to demonstrate its competitive advantages in hydrogen-powered vehicles to investors. The hydrogen-powered vehicle uses proprietary software and an electric axle developed jointly with Bosch that connects the fuel cell to the semi-trailer wheels.
Nikola executives view Nikola’s role as more of a system than those of diesel-powered semitrailer producers that purchase finished engines, transmissions and bearings directly from outside suppliers. integrator.
Nikola plans to start producing an electric semi-trailer called Tre next year. The vehicle will be built in the German city of Ulm as part of a joint venture with Iveco subsidiaries and will be based on the Iveco S-way truck platform.
The above-mentioned people familiar with the matter said that the first batch of mass-produced fuel cell trucks will also be based on the S-way platform and may use fuel cells from General Motors or Bosch. But it's expected that GM's fuel cells may appear in Nikola's second-generation trucks.
Nikola has a factory of its own under construction in Coolidge, Arizona, where it is expected to produce fuel cell semi-trailers by the end of 2023.
Nikola’s first prototype, called Nikola One, was a car that did not yet work properly, but the company’s former chairman said at an event in 2016 indicated that this was not the case. Milton told those present that the truck was "fully functional and working properly."
Afterwards, Milton denied deceiving others. In June, Bloomberg reported that the truck displayed at the auto show was inoperable and missing power components, citing people familiar with the vehicle's performance.
So far, Nikola already has two heavy-duty vehicles that are functional but are still early prototypes. Both vehicles were first publicly shown at a company event in April 2019.
According to people familiar with the matter, they use fuel cell systems provided by Bosch.
The company’s first consumer model will be a battery-powered pickup called the Badger, which General Motors has tentatively agreed to produce starting in 2022.
Nikola has not yet shown a prototype of the pickup truck, but it began taking deposits in June before announcing the deal with General Motors. This partnership depends on the final signing of a cooperation agreement with General Motors, which is still under discussion.
According to a Bloomberg report on September 28, people familiar with the matter said that although General Motors knew that its battery and fuel cell technology was superior to Nikola, after seeing Nikola’s prototype, GM was The car decided to invest in Nikola.
This article comes from the author of Autohome Chejiahao and does not represent the views and positions of Autohome.