While not exactly setting e world on fire in terms of its hydrogen and zero emission truck deliveries are concerned, the often embattled Nikola Corporation has revealed that it has wholesaled 88 of its heavy duty Class 8 Nikola hydrogen fuel cell trucks for the quarter ended 30 September, which puts the tally within its own truck sales guidance of between 80 and 100 fuel cell units for the three month period.
This somewhat meagre tally in the World’s biggest truck market adds the to its equally modest total or the first two quarters of 2024, with the brand wholesaling just 200 of its hydrogen fuel cell trucks in the first nine months this year, and 235 total since the truck went on sale in Q4 2023.
“This is a record sales quarter for Nikola, with 88 hydrogen fuel cell electric trucks wholesaled to our dealers for end customers, as well as the addition of a first-ever U.S. dealer-based HYLA modular refueling station,” said Nikola CEO Steve Girsky.
“Despite overall market headwinds, Nikola remains focused on our mission to pioneer solutions for a zero-emission world, and we’re doing it one truck at a time,” Girsky boasted.
Nikola trucks assembles its trucks at its plant at Coolidge in Arizona with its HQ nearby in Phoenix.
The troubled hydrogen fuel cell truck maker is still recovering from the scandals that beset it when its founder Trevor Milton was found guilty of ‘securities fraud’ for lying to the US SEC and the stock market, following falsification of test results and doctored videos that showed the truck running on a tarmac road. Only problems was the truck was represented as running under its own power from the hydrogen fuel cell, but in fact was filmed rolling down a hill with no power source engaged.
Milton was was found guilty on three of the four counts, the US Justice Department brought against him and he received a four year prison sentence, a $AUD1.6 million ($US1 million) fine, and was forced to forfeit part of his property holdings as a part of his sentence.
He had resigned from his position as executive chairman In September 2020, after the U.S. SEC and Department of Justice began investigating the claims that Milton and Nikola had committed the securities fraud.
In September 2020, Forbes assessed Milton’s net worth to be at at least $US3.1 billion, as he owned about 25 per cent of Nikola, which was then valued through market capitalisation, at about $US12.4 billion at the time. By June last year, the total market capitalisation of Nikola had dropped to under $400 million.
