General Motors receives 11 percent ownership of Nikola and
right to nominate one director; General Motors seizes growth
opportunity with Nikola to boldly move into broader markets with
Hydrotec fuel cell and Ultium battery systems
- General Motors to receive $2
billion equity stake in Nikola in exchange for certain
in-kind contributions
- General Motors to engineer, validate, homologate and
build the Nikola Badger for both the battery electric vehicle and
fuel cell electric vehicle variants as part of the in-kind
services
- Nikola anticipates saving over $4
billion in battery and powertrain costs over 10 years and
over $1 billion in engineering and
validation costs
- General Motors expects to receive in excess of
$4 billion of benefits between the
equity value of the shares, contract manufacturing of the Badger,
supply contracts for batteries and fuel cells, and EV credits
retained over the life of the contract
- General Motors to be exclusive supplier of fuel cells
globally (outside of Europe) to
Nikola for Class 7/8 trucks, providing validation and scale in a
multi-billion dollar total addressable market
- Badger is anticipated to enter production by year-end
2022
PHOENIX and DETROIT, Sept. 8,
2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Nikola Corporation (NASDAQ: NKLA)
and General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) today announced a strategic
partnership that begins with the Nikola Badger and carries cost
reductions through Nikola's programs, including: Nikola
Badger, Nikola Tre, Nikola One,
Nikola Two and NZT. As part of the agreement, Nikola will utilize
General Motors' Ultium battery system and Hydrotec fuel cell
technology, representing a key commercialization milestone for
General Motors.
Nikola will exchange $2 billion in
newly issued common stock for the in-kind services and access to
General Motors' global safety-tested and validated parts and
components. General Motors will be subject to a staged lock-up
provision beginning in one year and ending in June 2025. General Motors will engineer,
homologate, validate and manufacture the Nikola Badger battery
electric and fuel cell versions.
"Nikola is one of the most innovative companies in the world.
General Motors is one of the top engineering and manufacturing
companies in the world. You couldn't dream of a better partnership
than this," said Nikola Founder and Executive Chairman Trevor Milton. "By joining together, we get
access to their validated parts for all of our programs, General
Motors' Ultium battery technology and a multi-billion dollar fuel
cell program ready for production. Nikola immediately gets decades
of supplier and manufacturing knowledge, validated and tested
production-ready EV propulsion, world-class engineering and
investor confidence. Most importantly, General Motors has a vested
interest to see Nikola succeed. We made three promises to our
stakeholders and have now fulfilled two out of three promises ahead
of schedule. What an exciting announcement."
"This strategic partnership with Nikola, an industry leading
disrupter, continues the broader deployment of General Motors'
all-new Ultium battery and Hydrotec fuel cell systems," said
General Motors Chairman and CEO Mary
Barra. "We are growing our presence in multiple high-volume
EV segments while building scale to lower battery and fuel cell
costs and increase profitability. In addition, applying General
Motors' electrified technology solutions to the heavy-duty class of
commercial vehicles is another important step in fulfilling our
vision of a zero-emissions future."
The agreement with Nikola extends General Motors' utilization of
its fuel cell technology to the Class 7/8 semi-truck market and
represents a high-volume commercialization of its leading Hydrotec
fuel cell system and complements the company's battery-electric
propulsion. Fuel cells will become increasingly important to the
semi-truck market because they are more efficient than gas or
diesel. General Motors sees additional growth opportunities in
multiple transportation, stationary and mobile-power end
markets.
General Motors' battery development work is ongoing. Its
Ultium battery technology roadmap includes silicon anodes and
lithium metal anodes, which will improve vehicle range,
affordability, and reduced dependence on rare and costly metals. It
is already demonstrating automotive-grade durability and
significantly higher energy density.
Nikola will be responsible for the sales and marketing for the
Badger and will retain the Nikola Badger brand. The Badger was
first announced on Feb. 10, 2020 and
will make its public debut Dec. 3-5,
at Nikola World 2020 in Arizona.
Badger production is expected to start in late 2022 at a location
to be announced at a later date. In celebration of this
announcement, $100 Badger pre-order
reservations are now available at nikolamotor.com/badger.
Nikola remains an independent company. The investment is subject
to customary antitrust regulatory approval and closing conditions.
The parties anticipate closing the transaction prior to
Sept. 30, 2020.
About Nikola Corporation
Nikola Corporation is
globally transforming the transportation industry. As a designer
and manufacturer of zero-emission battery-electric and
hydrogen-electric vehicles, electric vehicle drivetrains, vehicle
components, energy storage systems, and hydrogen station
infrastructure, Nikola is driven to revolutionize the economic and
environmental impact of commerce as we know it today. Founded in
2015, Nikola Corporation is headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona. For more information, visit
www.nikolamotor.com or Twitter @nikolamotor.
Forward Looking Statements
Certain statements included
in this press release that are not historical facts are
forward-looking statements for purposes of the safe harbor
provisions under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995. Forward-looking statements generally are accompanied by words
such as "believe," "may," "will," "estimate," "continue,"
"anticipate," "intend," "expect," "should," "would," "plan,"
"predict," "potential," "seem," "seek," "future," "outlook," and
similar expressions that predict or indicate future events or
trends or that are not statements of historical matters. These
forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to,
statements regarding the company's expectations regarding its
projected refuse truck build and related specifications; the
company's expectations for its trucks and market acceptance of
electric refuse trucks; and market opportunity. These statements
are based on various assumptions, whether or not identified in this
press release, and on the current expectations of Nikola's
management and are not predictions of actual performance.
Forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and
uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially
from the forward-looking statements, including but not limited to
general economic, financial, legal, political and business
conditions and changes in domestic and foreign markets; the
potential effects of COVID-19; the outcome of judicial proceedings
to which Nikola is, or may become a party; failure to realize the
anticipated benefits of the recently completed business
combination; the conversion of pre-orders into binding
orders; risks related to the rollout of Nikola's business and
the timing of expected business milestones; the effects of
competition on Nikola's future business; the availability of
capital; and the other risks discussed under the heading "Risk
Factors" in the definitive proxy statement/prospectus/information
statement filed by VectoIQ on May 8,
2020 and other documents Nikola's files with the SEC. If any
of these risks materialize or our assumptions prove incorrect,
actual results could differ materially from the results implied by
these forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements
speak only as of the date hereof and Nikola specifically disclaims
any obligation to update these forward-looking statements.
About General Motors
General Motors (NYSE:
GM) is a global company committed to delivering safer, better and
more sustainable ways for people to get around. General Motors, its
subsidiaries and its joint venture entities sell vehicles under
the Chevrolet, Buick, GMC, Cadillac, Holden, Baojun and Wuling brands.
More information on the company and its subsidiaries,
including OnStar, a global leader in vehicle safety and
security services, can be found at http://www.gm.com.
Cautionary Note on Forward-Looking Statements:
This press release may include "forward-looking statements" within
the meaning of the U.S. federal securities laws. Forward-looking
statements are any statements other than statements of historical
fact. Forward-looking statements represent our current judgment
about possible future events and are often identified by words such
as "aim," "anticipate," "appears," "approximately," "believe,"
"continue," "could," "designed," "effect," "estimate," "evaluate,"
"expect," "forecast," "goal," "initiative," "intend," "may,"
"objective," "outlook," "plan," "potential," "priorities,"
"project," "pursue," "seek," "should," "target," "when," "will,"
"would," or the negative of any of those words or similar
expressions. In making these statements we rely upon assumptions
and analysis based on our experience and perception of historical
trends, current conditions and expected future developments, as
well as other factors we consider appropriate under the
circumstances. We believe these judgments are reasonable, but these
statements are not guarantees of any future events or financial
results, and our actual result may differ materially due to a
variety of important factors, both positive and negative. Many of
these factors are described in our Annual Report on Form 10-K and
our other filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
We caution readers not to place undue reliance on forward-looking
statements. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date
they are made, and we undertake no obligation to update publicly or
otherwise revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a
result of new information, future events or other factors that
affect the subject of these statements, except where we are
expressly required to do so by law.
Additional Information: References to "partnership" in this
document and related comments by management are intended to refer
only to the strategic alliance between the parties and are not
intended to and do not indicate the formation of a common law
partnership or similar legal construct or the duties (fiduciary or
otherwise) that may be implied by the formation of such a
partnership or construct.
MEDIA CONTACTS:
Nikola Corporation
Nicole
Rose, nicole.rose@nikolamotor.com, 602-499-4795
Colleen Robar, crobar@robarpr.com, 313-207-5960
General Motors
Juli
Huston-Rough, julie.huston-rough@gm.com, 313-549-6977
David Barnas, david.barnas@gm.com,
248-918-8946