Phoenix electric truck startup Nikola, General Motors partner in $2B deal

PHOENIX — Phoenix-based electric truck design and production startup Nikola Corporation on Tuesday announced a $2 billion, 10-year deal with General Motors.

GM will receive an 11% stake in the company in stock and will help manufacture Nikola’s Badger hydrogen fuel cell and electric pickup truck.

Nikola will also get help with cost reductions for its other vehicles and get use of GM’s battery system and hydrogen fuel technology.

“Nikola immediately gets decades of supplier and manufacturing knowledge, validated and tested production-ready EV propulsion, world-class engineering and investor confidence,” Nikola founder and executive chairman Trevor Milton said in a statement.

The Phoenix-based company, which has yet to make a profit and lost $86.6 million in the second quarter, expects to save over $4 billion in battery and powertrain costs over 10 years.

Last year, Nikola closed on a deal for over 2,5000 acres in Coolidge to build a new manufacturing plant. The plant was expected to open by 2023 and create about 2,000 jobs by 2024.

The Badger pickup truck is scheduled to make its public debut at a Phoenix event in December.

It is expected to be in production by the end of 2022.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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