Nikola Motors produced 209 battery-electric Tre trucks to-date.
The company recently announced it would recall all its existing trucks and suspend sales after a third-party investigation revealed a serious issue with its battery pack.
On June 23, a Nikola Tre BEV at the manufacturer’s Phoenix, Arizona headquarters. In July, a “minor thermal incident” occurred with a parked engineering validation truck, ostensibly caused by the same component failure. Specifically, investigators found a “coolant leak inside a single battery pack”. While Nikola initially suspected foul play in that incident, the incidents we know about seem to be connected by that same defect.
Neither incident caused any injuries, though it did spur Nikola’s recall which impacts all trucks it has built for dealers and customers so far.
The company says it is in contact with all involved parties, according to what a spokesperson told Reuters.
For the time being, Nikola asked impacted dealers and customers to take what immediate action they can, such as parking vehicles outside. The company also says the Main Battery Disconnect (MDB) should remain in the “ON” position at all times, so Nikola will be able to monitor vehicle status in real-time. Stephen Girsky, Nikola’s new CEO as of August 4 and the fourth chief executive the comapny’s had in as many years, said the company will provide another update once the investigation has concluded.
Nikola’s stock fell nearly 6% after the close upon this news breaking late last week, though it did rebound slightly in early morning trading to $1.85 per share.
