Nikola Recalls Battery-Powered Electric Trucks After Investigation Reveals Coolant Leak as Cause of Fires
August 11, 2023
Nikola, the U.S. truckmaker, announced on Friday that it is recalling all the battery-powered electric trucks it has delivered thus far and suspending sales. The decision comes after an investigation into recent fires found a coolant leak inside a battery pack as the cause.
According to a spokesperson for Nikola, there are a total of 209 battery-powered electric trucks in the marketplace between dealers and customers, and the company is now recalling those vehicles and reaching out to all parties involved.
The preliminary findings of the investigation, conducted by a third-party investigator, were further supported when a “minor thermal incident” occurred in one of the packs on a parked engineering-validation truck. Fortunately, no injuries were reported.
In a statement, Nikola stated, “Foul play or other external factors were unlikely to have caused the incident,” and the company is working on providing a remedy for the issue.
The investigation was initiated in June after trucks at Nikola’s headquarters in Phoenix, Arizona, caught fire. One of the damaged trucks re-ignited last month while being monitored at the site.
Internal investigations conducted by Nikola’s safety and engineering teams revealed that a single supplier component within the battery pack was most likely the source of the coolant leak responsible for the fires.
Facing supply chain bottlenecks and weaker demand, Nikola has made the decision to produce battery electric trucks only on an order basis and shift its focus to hydrogen fuel cell trucks.
Adding to their challenges, Nikola recently appointed Chairman Stephen Girsky, a former General Motors executive, as its fourth CEO in four years. The company has also expressed “substantial doubts” about its ability to continue as a going concern for the next 12 months, highlighting the need for critical additional capital.
In response to the recall, Nikola has asked customers and dealers of its Tre battery electric trucks to take immediate safety measures, including parking the trucks outside.
Following the news, Nikola’s shares fell 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 Maller, William Mallard, and Raju Gopalakrishnan.
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