GM Will Play a Key Role in Building Nikola Badger Electric Trucks
Photo: GM
General Motors recently announced its partnership with Nikola Corporation. In return for an 11 percent ownership stake, GM will supply the company with Ultium batteries and Hydrotec Fuel-cell technology for its Nikola Badger pickup trucks. Here’s what you should know about this exciting collaboration.
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Endorsement of the partnership
Both companies’ executives expressed the mutually beneficial nature of the partnership. Nikola founder and executive chairman Trevor Milton expressed pride in the new alliance with GM. He articulated how his company will benefit from GM’s decades of industry experience as well as their advanced engineering tech.
General Motors Chairman and CEO Mary Barra voiced her own support of the collaboration. She views it as a way to “continue[…] the broader deployment of General Motors’ all-new Ultium battery and Hydrotec fuel cell systems.”
More details about the partnership
According to Green Car Reports’ Bengt Halvorson, the agreement dictates that GM will be the sole supplier of fuel-cell tech for Nikola’s Class 7/8 trucks. There’s a possibility that GM will use the same technologies it intends for the GMC Hummer EV and upcoming Chevy electric pickup on the Nikola Badger models. Though, GM has yet to confirm this information.
It’s also worth noting a few other benefits that GM and Nikola will get from this new partnership. For one thing, Nikola expects to save over $5 billion in battery and engineering costs over the next decade.
In addition, GM is poised to reap more than $4 billion from the alliance, as Halvorson reports. This profit will come from the EV credits GM will keep during the length of the contract, as well as from the value of the shares, fuel-cell stack supply, and contract manufacturing.
We wish both companies the best of luck on this new collaboration, as we eagerly await the arrival of the Nikola Badger electric truck, which is set for a late 2022 release. In the meantime, read up on GM’s Ultium vehicle battery and EV platform. And find out more about the GMC Hummer EV, which the brand will reveal on Oct. 20.
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Whitney Russell resides in Dayton, though her spirit can be found beach-bumming in Puerto Rico (the land of her half-Puerto Rican heritage). When not crafting car-related content, she can be found chasing after the most amazing toddler in the world, watching her “beaver” of a husband build amazing woodworking projects, hanging out with two crazy dogs, and visiting family and friends. She also enjoys traveling, crafting, and binge-watching period dramas when time allows. See more articles by Whitney.