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July
13, 2023
By
Pras Subramanian
Nikola stock surging on hydrogen fuel-cell truck and
supply deals
Nikola stock (NKLA)
is rocketing higher after the electric truck maker announced two big
deals for its hydrogen fuel cell vehicles.
First off, small-scale hydrogen producer BayoTech
agreed to a supply deal with Nikola HYLA’s division, which is its
hydrogen distribution and dispensing solution for commercial trucking
applications using hydrogen fuel-cell technology. BayoTech has agreed
to purchase up to 50 Nikola Class 8 hydrogen fuel cell trucks over the
next five years, with the first twelve trucks slated for delivery in
2023 and 2024. Nikola says its fuel-cell trucks have a range of up to
500 miles.
The HYLA tie-up with BayoTech will in turn see Nikola purchase up to
10 of BayoTech’s HyFill hydrogen transport trailers, which are
required to distribute high-pressure hydrogen from production sites to
refueling stations.
Secondly, Nikola supplier Bosch
said at its Tech Day 2023 in Stuttgart on Thursday that it would
begin volume production of its fuel-cell power modules, with Nikola
serving as Bosch’s pilot customer.
Bosch fuel cells will be used in Nikola’s Class 8 truck, which has
first deliveries to customers starting in North America in Q3 of this
year.
“Bosch is one of the very few companies that are capable of
mass-producing technology as complex as fuel-cell stacks. We don’t
just have the required systems expertise, but also the capability of
quickly scaling up new developments to mass production,” Markus Heyn,
Bosch board member and chairman of Bosch Mobility, said in a
statement. Bosch says it will invest $2.8 billion into hydrogen fuel
technology through 2026, which is over $1 billion more than it was
planning to spend.
![](images/images_07_17_2023/7f960880-21aa-11ee-b3e6-d9ee67ff9346%20copy.jpg)
Bosch's hydrogen fuel cell production line in Germany
Nikola shares traded up nearly 60% in late afternoon trading.
In an interview with Yahoo
Finance earlier this year, Nikola CEO Michael Lohscheller said the
company was forecasting production of "between 375 and 500 trucks" for
the year and that the company plans to temporarily pause production at
its Coolidge, Arizona, plant in order to modify the assembly line to
accommodate both hydrogen fuel cell and battery electric assembly. The
company said it is also leaning more toward boosting production of its
hydrogen fuel cell trucks and assembling battery-electric models on a
"build-to-order" basis.
It hasn’t been all good news for Nikola recently, as three weeks ago a
fire damaged multiple battery-electric trucks at its Arizona
headquarters. At the time Nikola said it suspected "foul play," but
the Phoenix Fire Department concluded
its investigation and found "no evidence at all of arson," meaning
a possible battery issue may have been the cause of the fire.
![](images/images_07_17_2023/1aa37ca0-11ec-11ee-bffc-918ba61dff95%20copy.jpg)
Phoenix and Tempe fire crews battle multiple electric vehicle fires at
the Nikola Motor Co. headquarters in Phoenix on June 23, 2023.
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