Even if we can't reach a strategic cooperation with GM, Nicholas will find a way forward. June 6, local time 10, CEO of the company? Mark? After Russell made such a statement, Nikolai's share price closed at $65,438 +09.55, down 16. 12%.
This company, named "Nikolai" after nikola tesla, was once dubbed "Tesla in the truck industry", closely following Tesla, the market leader in the automobile industry.
Nowadays, under the influence of many unfavorable news such as the strong short-selling report issued by short-selling institutions, the sudden resignation of the founder, and the postponement of GM's plan, it has surpassed Ford's glory in less than a week, and "Tesla in the truck industry" is becoming "Ruixing in the truck industry".
But the giant behind this company will definitely not give up its grand plan to turn it into a hydrogen energy empire, and the story of saving Nikolai may be about to be staged.
On June 4, 2020, the Nasdaq Stock Exchange ushered in a new American car-making force-Nicholas? Company (Nasdaq: NKLA). On that day, the company's market performance was tepid, opening at $37.55 and closing at $33.75 after the shock.
This is a company founded by continuous entrepreneur Trevor Milton (Trevor? Milton) was formally established as an electric truck company on 20 15.
Prior to this, Milton did not finish his college studies, and started many businesses, including alarms, online advertisements, industrial manufacturing, etc., and many companies eventually closed down. The latest adventure was to set up a company called dHybrid? System enterprise, focusing on serving the natural gas truck market.
dHybrid？ The system can be said to be the turning point of Milton's entrepreneurial experience, which brought funds, talents and technology to the post-80 s entrepreneur.
20 14 10, this company was acquired by worthington industries, which gave Milton some funds to start Nikolai's project. Not only that, according to Mark? According to Russell, worthington Industry has also become Nikolai's first strategic investor, and Mark? Russell himself served as the president and chief operating officer of worthington Industry, and joined Nikolai as the president on 20 19.
Before being acquired, in addition to studying natural gas systems, Milton also accumulated a number of patents on hydrogen fuel technology to prepare for building zero-emission trucks.
In 20 16, Nikolai released the first prototype of electric semi-trailer tractor powered by hydrogen energy. 1, 2065438+April 2008, Nicholas? Two. And then what? Nicholas? Tre appeared one after another.
According to the company's official data, as of 20 19, Nikola has received an order for 14602 hydrogen fuel heavy trucks, with a total value of 102 billion USD.
In February 2020, Nikola launched the Badger electric pickup truck to compete with Tesla's much-watched Cybertruck. Milton even boldly stated that he would take the Ford F- 150, which ranked first in pickup truck sales in the United States for 43 consecutive years, off the throne.
Moreover, in Milton's future business model, Nicholas is not only a car manufacturer, but also an energy company.
Nikolai provides a complete solution of hydrogen energy heavy truck+hydrogen refueling station+hydrogenation, that is, providing customers with hydrogen energy heavy truck service, unlimited use of hydrogen and vehicle maintenance service during their life cycle.
Milton believes that "the only way to reduce costs is to integrate hydrogen energy with trucks. When you buy our truck, we will provide hydrogen service and all the fuel needed for the whole life cycle, and you only need to pay by the mile. "
This is an imaginative business model, of course, the construction of infrastructure is also quite far away.
However, no one expected that before "killing" F- 150, Nicholas's market value had surpassed Ford's.
On the first Monday after the backdoor listing, Nikolai's share price soared by more than 65,438+000%, reaching an all-time high of $93.99 on June 9, with a market value of more than $35 billion, surpassing Ford, a century-old American car company, and becoming the third largest American car manufacturer after Tesla and General Motors.
It took Tesla seven years to achieve such results in the capital market, while Nicholas spent less than seven days.
Nicholas can be said to be a blockbuster, and more and more people pay attention to this new American car-making force that started with hydrogen fuel cell heavy trucks and expanded its business to the field of electric pickup trucks. Nicholas, whose headquarters moved from Salt Lake City to Phoenix, seems to have become a phoenix, and was named "Tesla in the truck industry" by many Wall Street investors.
In the spotlight, Nicholas attracted not only the capital of Wall Street, but also the scrutiny of the media and the sniper of short-selling institutions.
When the media sought after Nikola, Bloomberg reported in June 18 that Milton exaggerated the progress of the first prototype truck, which was just a large car model without key power components such as hydrogen fuel cells and motors, and could not run normally.
Milton accused Bloomberg's report of being one-sided, demanded that all unedited recordings be made public, and said that the company would refuse Bloomberg reporters to participate in any activities of Nikolai.
When confronting Bloomberg, Milton should not have expected a more violent attack from short institutions.
In September this year 10, the short-selling institution Hindenburg Research Center (Hindenburg? Research (hereinafter referred to as "Hindenburg") issued a report saying that Nikolai was an intricate scam, directly accusing Milton, the founder of the company, of making false statements about the company's technology in order to attract investors and other automakers.
The most direct accusation is that, similar to Bloomberg's report, the prototype advertised as "completely usable" at the 20 16 press conference was actually hastily assembled. A cable passes through the cab from below the stage to supply power to the car screen, which Milton uses to prove that the car can run normally.
On 20 18, Nikola released a video, the content of which was heavy duty truck Nikola for hydrogen fuel cells? A man's prototype is flying on the road.
Hindenburg found that this seemingly moving car was not actually driven by the hydrogen power system. Nikolai dragged it to a gentle slope and let the vehicle slide down, which made the audience mistakenly think that the truck was driving normally.
To this end, the short-selling organization also found the shooting location of the video, a Mormon Trail south of Glunk, Utah, with a slope about 2 miles (about 3.2 kilometers) long, where few cars usually pass by.
In response to this accusation, Nikola responded many times and finally declared that it was suspected of admitting fraud, that is, the company said that the video was shot by a third party, and the content did not directly indicate that the car was driven by a hydrogen fuel cell system.
Besides, Milton has always stressed that the company is developing its own technology and products, but Hindenburg found that many videos released by Nikolai used parts from other companies, but the trademarks were deliberately blocked. At that time, Milton emphasized in the video that the inverter was made by the company itself, but the screenshot shows that there is an obvious Cascadia trademark on the parts.
In this regard, Nikola responded that the company did not say that the inverter in the video was used for production, and then it would produce its own products. The engineering vehicle did use third-party parts in the early stage and will be replaced in the future.
This obviously contradicts the scene in which Milton pointed to the third-party inverter and said that he developed it himself.
Fraud is not limited to these. Milton's much-hyped high-density battery company didn't install solar panels on the roof of its headquarters. In fact, it was not technologically advanced, and its president was sued for tax fraud.
Interestingly, it was in May of 20 18, that is, half a year after Tesla released the Semi truck, that Milton and Nikolai felt the car and Nikolai? One is that there are three similarities, such as omni-directional wrapping windshield, and Tesla is considered to have infringed on its three design patents and claimed $2 billion.
In the accusation, Milton said that he designed a prototype car in the basement, but the Financial Times report broke the story.
It is reported that in 20 15, I visited the Croatian electric car brand Rimac? At the headquarters of Automobili, Milton meets Adriano, the design director. Mudri, later spent thousands of dollars to buy virtual 3D models and computer drawings, which later became Nikolai? A new original design.
Accordingly, Tesla recently filed an appeal to revoke Nikolai's design patent because Adriano? Mudri is Tesla Road? Designer of hydrogen fuel concept car with runner.
In fact, as early as after the stock price reached an all-time high of $93.99, although Nicholas received much attention, it was not fully recognized by the market. The stock price fluctuated and finally fluctuated around $ 30-40.
The short report hit Nikolai hard, and its share price once fell to an all-time low of $65,438 +06. 15. Milton also suddenly announced his resignation on September 20, agreeing to give up shares and board seats worth about $65,438+66 million.
Nathan Anderson, founder of Hindenburg Research Center (Nathan? Anderson) said Milton's withdrawal was only the beginning of Nicholas's disintegration.
Even if we can't reach a strategic cooperation with GM, Nicholas will find a way forward. Nicholas's current CEO? Mark? Russell doesn't think the company is deadlocked. If the negotiations with GM break down, they will restart the "base" (? Plan).
The strategic cooperation between Russell and GM was officially announced two days before the short report was released.
On September 8, GM announced that it had reached a strategic partnership with Nikolai, and promoted the application of Ultium battery system and Hydrotec hydrogen fuel cell technology in Nikolai products.
In this cooperation, GM will invest in equivalent non-cash assets to obtain the newly issued $2 billion common stock of Nikolai, which owns the equity of 1 1% and has the right to nominate a board member.
With the fermentation of fraud scandal and the sudden resignation of founder Milton, the two sides did not complete the transaction before September 30 as expected.
"Our transaction with Nikolai has not been completed, and the two sides are continuing to discuss with them and will announce the latest situation when appropriate or necessary." On September 29, GM spokesperson Julie? Houston-Ralph said. According to the previous agreement, if the two parties fail to finalize the transaction before February 3, 65438, either party can terminate the agreement.
According to the original plan, the cooperation between the two sides will start from? Nicholas? Badger's pure electric and hydrogen fuel cell pickups started, but in June, 10, 16, GM announced the first pure electric vehicle factory? Zero will invest $2.2 billion to produce GMC Hummer electric pickup trucks and other models.
This news cast a shadow over the cooperation between the two sides. Russell said that if an agreement cannot be reached with GM, Nikolai will give up this model. "We have always been very clear that badgers will not be made without the partners of car companies."
But as mentioned above, Russell is not pessimistic about the company's prospects. After all, Nikola is actually a partnership company.
Nicholas's sudden emergence is not limited to Milton, an entrepreneur who has failed many times.
From 20 16 to now, after four rounds of financing, Nikola has raised a total of 524 million US dollars, and its valuation has increased from the initial 330 million US dollars to more than 3 billion US dollars before IPO, in which many giants participated.
In 20 17, Nikolai established cooperation with Bosch, a German auto parts giant, to develop a brand-new commercial vehicle powertrain and jointly developed a fuel cell powertrain. Since then, Bosch has participated in the financing after Nicholas.
Nikolai's C-round financing was launched on 20 18, with the participation of not only Bosch, but also Nel, the equipment supplier of Norwegian hydrogen refueling station. As the designated supplier of hydrogen refueling stations, the grand goal of Nikola to establish a network of 700 hydrogen refueling stations in the United States by 2028 will be completed by Nel.
Investors participating in the C round of financing also include Hanwha Group, a Korean solar panel manufacturing giant. In Milton's plan, Nel and Hanwha Group will cooperate to form a closed loop of hydrogen supply for hydrogen production, hydrogen storage and hydrogenation through on-site solar power generation to solve the fuel supply problem of its hydrogen fuel heavy truck fleet.
See you later, CNH? Industrial and its commercial vehicle company Iveco have invested $250 million in NIKOL A * * *. The cooperation between the two sides is not only at the capital level, Nicholas? Tre will be produced in Germany in cooperation with Iveco, the heavy truck division of CNH Industrial Group. Earlier, Milton said that the Tre model that started production in 202 1 will use the chassis and frame designed by partner Iveco, but the core technologies such as batteries belong to Nikolai himself.
Only when the strategic cooperation with GM was announced, Nikola still needed the universal Ultium battery system and Hydrotec hydrogen fuel cell technology. Where are the core technologies developed by ourselves?
In this game of hydrogen electric trucks, Nicholas is not the owner of the core technology and does not have the right to speak at the core, but Milton and Stephen, former vice chairman of General Motors and current chairman of Nicholas. Through the integration of resources, Gilsky saved a game and became a link and lubricant for all parties.
Nicholas is actually a business empire of hydrogen energy and electric heavy trucks that various giants are trying to build. They don't want it to fall easily.
Recently, Bosch said in a statement, "For many years, Bosch has been a supplier of Nikolai and invested in the company in early financing. We intend to continue to cooperate with Nikolai and maintain close contact with the company and its management. " ? .
If Nicholas wants to survive in the Jedi, he can only seek external help, and how the giant will save Nicholas whose reputation is temporarily bankrupt, let us wait and see.
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This article comes from car home, the author of the car manufacturer, and does not represent car home's position.