A number of battery electrical Nikola Tre Class 8 semi vans caught on fireplace late final week on the firm’s headquarters in Phoenix, Arizona, in line with a tweet posted on the startup’s official Twitter account.
The reason for the fires remains to be unknown, however Nikola mentioned that it suspects foul play as a automobile was seen within the space of the affected vans earlier than the incident. With this being mentioned, it is nonetheless too early to know what occurred, and the investigation remains to be ongoing.
That is simply the most recent piece in a collection of troubling information concerning the Phoenix-based truck agency. Final week, Nikola introduced that it will likely be shedding 270 workers at its websites in Europe and North America in a bid to streamline its operations and improve its deal with the American market – plans to promote the three way partnership on the Outdated Continent to Iveco have been introduced prior.
Because it stands, the semi truck startup presently has roughly 900 employees who manufacture and promote two variations of the Iveco-based Tre mannequin: battery electrical (BEV) and hydrogen gas cell electrical (FCEV). At the least in concept, that’s, as a result of the manufacturing of the Tre BEV was placed on pause early final month as a result of the stock had swollen significantly – nevertheless, simply 63 models have been constructed up to now this yr and the manufacturing technique has shifted to a “build-to-order” strategy.
On the identical time, deliveries of the gas cell electrical truck are scheduled to start out within the third quarter with 178 orders from 14 finish clients.
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Moreover, Nikola’s founder and former CEO Trevor Milton is understood for mendacity concerning the firm’s progress early on, and final yr he was discovered responsible of securities fraud and wire fraud associated to his work on the startup. He was changed by Michael Lohscheller as chief government officer in January.
Sarcastically, Milton, who owns roughly 9 p.c of the agency’s shares, took to social media not too long ago to criticize the truck maker and counsel it wants new management.
Nikola was based in Salt Lake Metropolis, Utah in 2014 and offered a number of idea autos between 2016 and 2020, the primary of which was a pure gas-fueled turbine-electric semi truck.
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