Nikola recalls and stops selling electric trucks due to fire investigation.

Recall of Battery-Powered Electric Trucks‌ by ‍Nikola

By ⁤Mrinmay ​Dey

(Reuters) – Nikola announced on Friday that⁤ it is recalling all the battery-powered ​electric trucks it has delivered so ​far and suspending sales. This decision comes after an investigation into recent fires revealed a coolant leak inside a battery pack as the cause.

There are a total of ⁣209 battery-powered electric trucks in the marketplace between dealers ‌and customers, and the company is recalling ‍all these vehicles. Nikola is⁣ currently in the process of contacting all parties involved, according to a spokesperson for⁤ the company.

The preliminary findings of the probe,‌ conducted by a third-party investigator, were confirmed on Thursday when ‌a “minor thermal incident” occurred on one pack of⁤ a parked engineering-validation truck. Fortunately, no one was injured.

“Foul​ play or other ⁣external factors‍ were unlikely​ to ⁣have caused the incident,” stated Nikola in a press release. The⁢ company is now working on finding a solution to the issue.

Nikola⁢ initiated the ​investigation in June after trucks at its​ Phoenix, Arizona, headquarters caught fire. Last month, one damaged truck,⁤ kept at ‍the Phoenix site for monitoring, re-ignited.

Internal investigations conducted​ by Nikola’s safety and engineering teams indicate that a single supplier component within the battery pack is the⁤ likely source of the coolant leak that caused the fires.

Due ⁤to supply chain bottlenecks and​ weaker demand, Nikola has⁣ decided to ⁤focus on‍ hydrogen fuel‌ cell trucks ⁣and will only produce battery electric trucks on order.

On August 4,‍ Nikola appointed Chairman Stephen Girsky, a former General Motors executive, as its chief executive, ​marking the fourth CEO change in ‌four years.

The company has expressed‍ “substantial doubts” ‍about its ability ‍to continue as a going concern for the ‌next 12 months, reiterating its warning for the third ​time since February, as it awaits “critical” ‍additional capital.

As a precautionary measure, Nikola has asked customers and dealers of its Tre battery electric‍ trucks to take⁤ immediate safety measures,⁢ including parking them outside.

Following the announcement, Nikola’s shares⁣ fell by as much as 5.6% after the market closed.

(Reporting by Shubhendu Deshmukh and Mrinmay Dey in Bengaluru ⁣and Abhirup Roy in San Francisco; Editing by Sandra Maler, William Mallard and Raju Gopalakrishnan)

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