If founder Trevor Milton of Nikola (NKLA) has his way, the garbage trucks that emit black smoke trolling the streets will eventually be a thing of the past.
Milton and his team at Nikola took a giant step in that mission on Monday.
The upstart electric and hydrogen-powered truck maker announced a deal with waste management giant Republic Services for 2,500 electric, zero-emission trucks. A dollar amount for the contract was not disclosed. The deal is expandable to 5,000 trucks. Full production shipments are expected to begin in 2023 – road testing is set to begin in early 2021 and early 2022.
Each truck will limit its propulsion software to 1,000 horsepower.
“Nikola specializes in zero-emission Class 8 trucks. The waste market is one of the most stable markets in the sector and provides long-term value to shareholders, ‘Milton said in a statement.
The Republic Services deal adds to the backlog of Nikola’s semi-truck, which Milton said Yahoo Finance has far 14,000 units valued at $ 10 billion in potential revenue.
Republic Services truck.
Nikola – which has not yet started production – plans to have its first electrically powered semi-truck on the market in 2021 (probably for Tesla’s Semi). Hydrogen-powered options are projected to follow in 2023. The company recently broke ground on its manufacturing facility in Arizona. Once phase three is completed, the site is seen producing 35,000 units per year on two shifts.
Meanwhile, the company is announcing a production partner for its new Badger electric pick-up truck.
To be sure, shares of Nikola have been very volatile since the company debuted in June. The stock nearly doubled to $ 94 in less than two weeks of being public amid hype surrounding the company’s new technologies and its potential to compete effectively with Tesla. It has since returned to $ 36 or so as investors better understand the company’s production timeline and business model.
In its first earnings announcement as a public company on August 4, Nikola revealed that it had made a net loss of $ 119 million through the first six months of 2020 – largely because it has no revenue yet.
@BrianSozzi and to LinkedIn.“data-reactid =” 43 “>Brian Sozzi is an editor-in-chief and co-anchor of The First Trade by Yahoo Finance. Follow Sozzi on Twitter @BrianSozzi and to LinkedIn.
