Where's The Truck?

AZL is famous for renting the only world-class lithium research facility that nearly burned down before its public dedication because someone parked a truck with a lithium battery inside it, and it caught fire. This was not the only Nikola truck that flamed out last year. In June 2023, a Nikola truck caught fire at its headquarters due to a coolant leak inside its battery pack. In August 2023, a second truck's battery pack malfunctioned, which led the company to announce a recall of all the battery-electric semitrucks it had made to that point (209 in total). It suspended sales of its battery-electric trucks until a repair would become available. On September 4, 2023 a third truck caught fire at Arizona Lithium in Tempe, Arizona, and on September 8, a fourth truck fire occurred near Nikola's headquarters in Phoenix.

Nikola has learned its lesson. It is now selling only hydrogen-powered trucks.

PHOENIX – October 2, 2024 – For Q3 2024, Nikola Corporation (Nasdaq: NKLA), a global leader in zero-emissions transportation and energy supply and infrastructure solutions, via the HYLA brand, wholesaled 88 Class 8 Nikola hydrogen fuel cell trucks, firmly within truck sales guidance of between 80 and 100 fuel cell units for the quarter. For the first three quarters of 2024, Nikola wholesaled 200 hydrogen fuel cell trucks, and 235 total since the truck went on sale in Q4 of last year.

But what happened to those electric trucks? Well, here is this week’s news:

Nikola shares hit a new all-time low on Monday, falling below $2 for the first time, after the electric truck maker announced a recall of 72 of its 2022-2023 battery electric (BEV) trucks due to a defect in the instrument cluster display.

So, whatever happened to AZL’s truck? Was it repaired? Was it insured? Will it be donated to the Museum of Failed Lithium Projects?