Will Nikola’s best year ever be good enough?

Nikola snapped a nine-day losing streak in its share price a week ago when it posted record second-quarter earnings. CEO Steve Girsky still enthusiastically believes that 2024 will be the best year in the company’s history. However, the electric truck maker only has enough cash on hand to last through the end of the year without further diluting investors by converting more shares.

Clearing the bush

Nikola is no longer talking about convicted founder Trevor Milton, who recently dropped his $1 billion lawsuit against current management. The company is still seeking repayment of a $165 million arbitration award it won against him in October. There was little progress in a cat and mouse hunt for where Milton might have parked his money.

The repair and return to owners and dealers of electric trucks with fire-prone batteries recalled a year ago remains on track for the end of the year.

The company is focused for the rest of the year on delivering the promised 300-350 fuel cell electric trucks and establishing 14 locations in the US and Canada to fuel them. Nikola may resume building battery electric trucks next year, but only for select orders, not dealer inventory.

Production of 72 fuel cell trucks in Q2 was announced weeks before last Friday’s earnings report. Nikola on Monday opened a modular fueling site in Santa Fe Springs, Calif., off I-5, creating a triangle of hydrogen availability in Southern California.

Cash remains tight and survival is still in question

However, Nikola remains in danger of not being able to survive until next year as a going concern. But really, what else is new? The company has confounded the naysayers again and again. Some facts are just plain ugly. Nicholas:

• It has eaten up 99% of the value of legacy shareholders’ shares since going public through a special-purpose buyout company led by Girsky’s VectoIQ in June 2020.

• It increased the current number of shares outstanding to 50.6 million from 17 million at the end of 2022, making each share less valuable to investors.

• It had just $256.3 million in unrestricted cash as of June 30, enough to run the business through the end of the year without raising more money.

• It is likely to continue to access a $600 million stock distribution deal at market with Citibank, further diluting current shareholders.

But the T2 results indicated some positive aspects. Nicholas:

• There have been small sales of pollution credits earned from the sale of zero-emission trucks.

• It made $7,000 more per fuel cell truck sold in Q2 than in Q1 – $388,000 vs. $381,000. Total Q2 revenue of $31.3 million was up 318% from Q1.

• We have received repeat orders for fuel cell trucks from two national accounts, including shipping company IMC.

• It distributed more than 77 metric tons of hydrogen at its Hyla fueling points, avoiding approximately 867 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions in the tailpipe.

The story continues

Sense of urgency

Nikola’s marketing team sent out an email to potential customers this week with the subject line “Urgent: Time is running out to secure HVIP funding before it’s gone!”

The company reminded customers that vouchers for the hybrid and zero-emission truck and bus incentive project could be phased out by the end of the year for Nikola Tre battery electric vehicles from 2022.

Changes to the HVIP program may destroy a sales lifeline that Nikola has relied on. The company owns 99% of HVIP tickets for fuel cell trucks and 23% of BEV tickets.

The email also noted that while more than $261 million in HVIP funds remained as of July 23, the money was going fast. The changes coming in 2025 will make it harder for large fleets to qualify, while small fleets could receive double incentives and save up to 90% of the cost of an FCEV.

“We go to work every day like our lives depend on it, because it does,” Girsky told me.

TuSimple pivots to… movies and video games

The press release could have come as one of those April Fools’ Day announcements. But it’s not April, and it looks like this is true: autonomous truck developer TuSimple is getting into the movie and video game business.

The company has signed a partnership with Shanghai Three Body Animation to develop the first feature-length animation film and video game based on the Hugo Award-winning science fiction novel series “The Three-Body Problem.”

The newly created business segment leverages TuSimple’s capabilities with a focus on generative AI applications in animation and video games.

“The globally acclaimed series ‘The Three-Body Problem’ provides an exceptional canvas to showcase our emerging generative AI capabilities, which we believe will provide a near-term path to commercialization,” said Cheng Lu, President and CEO of TuSimple , in a news story. launch wednesday.

“We intend to collaborate with world-class creative talent to deliver an exceptional story. Our goal is to amplify human creativity, help shorten development timelines and address the industry’s project backlog.”

San Diego-based TuSimple has voluntarily delisted from Nasdaq and shuttered most of the US operations that once led the nascent self-driving truck industry. TuSimple seems to be keeping its focus on Asia.

Briefly noted…

The workhorse group delayed its second-quarter earnings from Wednesday until next Tuesday, a potentially ominous sign for the financially troubled electric van maker.

Mack Trucks refreshes its medium-duty MD Series with a larger cab and improved safety features.

Volvo use fossil-free steel in production from 2021. A report by the International Clean Transportation Council says the US and European auto industries can do the same.

Kevin Bangston takes over as president and CEO of Daimler Truck Financial Services North America effective September 1, succeeding Richard Howard, who is retiring.

After introducing the first garbage truck powered by hydrogen fuel cells earlier this year, Hyzon and refuses bodywork New Way Trucks performs demonstrations in the US and Canada.

Cummins Inc. continues to rebrand parts of its business. Now it’s Power Onward to capture the engine manufacturer’s commitment to cleaner power.

Truck Tech Episode 78: Nikola’s Steve Girsky on What’s Going Right and the Challenges Facing the Fuel Cell Truck Maker

There’s still time to take advantage of this discount offer on your tickets to the Future of Freight Festival in Chattanooga, Tennessee this November. But time is running out to submit nominations for the FreightTech 25. Nominations close at 6 pm EDT on September 6. Winners will be announced at F3.

That’s it for this week. Thanks for reading and watching. Click here to subscribe and get Truck Tech delivered to your email on Fridays. And catch the latest Truck Tech podcast episodes and short videos on the FreightWaves YouTube channel. Send your feedback about Truck Tech to Alan Adler at [email protected].

The post Will Nikola’s Best Year Ever Be Good Enough? appeared first on FreightWaves.