Company announces $1B plan to build hydrogen-electric trucks in Arizona
Jan 30, 2018, 11:13 AM
(Nikola Motor Company Photo)
(Nikola Motor Company Photo)
PHOENIX — Semi-trucks that run on a combination of hydrogen and electricity will soon be rolling off production lines in Arizona, it was announced Tuesday.
Utah-based Nikola Motor Company said it had selected Buckeye as the home for its new plant that was expected to bring in more than $1 billion in capital investment to the region by 2024.
“We will begin transferring our R&D and headquarters to Arizona immediately and hope to have the transition completed by October 2018,” the company’s CEO and founder, Trevor Milton, said.
“We have already begun planning the construction for our new zero emission manufacturing facility in Buckeye, which we expect to have underway by the end of 2019.”
The 500-acre plant will create about 2,000 jobs.
The company scouted 30 sites before choosing Buckeye.
Gov. Doug Ducey, who has also lured electric car maker Lucid Motors to the state, said Nikola’s decision showed Arizona was leading the way in attracting new companies.
“This incredible new technology will revolutionize transportation, and we’re very proud it will be engineered right here in Arizona,” he said.
The million-square-foot facility will be built near Sun Valley and Wintersburg parkways, adjacent to a new master-planned community that will house an estimated 300,000 people.
“As the seventh-fastest growing city in the country, Nikola Motor Company is a huge asset which will help us achieve our goal of providing a place where Buckeye residents can live, work and play,” Buckeye Mayor Jackie Meck said.
Nikola has two models: The Nikola One and the Nikola Two.
