Nikola Motors announced Thursday that it has opened a mobile hydrogen fuel semitrailer plant in Coolidge, Arizona.
The $600 million plant will be built in stages, according to a press release from Nikola. The first phase is expected to end in 2021, and the current phase is expected to end within the next 12 to 18 months.
Once completed, the plant will first manufacture the Nikola Two and Nikola Tre trucks, and eventually manufacture 35,000 cars a year, Nikola said. Both are destined for the US market, while tre is destined for Europe. Both trucks will have up to 1,000 horsepower and 2,000 pound-feet of torque, with a diversity of 500 to 750 miles, Nikola said earlier.
The first Tre trucks will be built in Ulm, Germany, through truck manufacturer IVECO, and production will be transferred to Arizona.
Nikola two
Nikola also clarified that his Badger fuel cell/electric battery pickup will be manufactured through a production partner, not the Arizona plant. Scheduled to arrive in 2022, the Badger will basically have the battery power, with fuel cells used for long journeys.
The company hopes to build its business style around vertical integration, and the company will also build a network of hydrogen stations. The company had said in the past that it was expecting 700 stations across the United States until 2028.
Nikola recently claimed to be a leader in beV and fuel cells, and CEO Trevor Milton is looking to mention the company with Tesla (both named after inventor Nikola Tesla). But the main difference is that Nikola has still delivered a bachelor vehicle.
They are not the only zero-emission automaker to move to Arizona. Lucid Motors is building the plant for the production of its Air electric sedan in the vicinity of the city of Casa Grande, Arizona, and will deliver this style early next year.