Nikola, Joint Development of Eco-Friendly Garbage Truck Also Fails

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Jae-hee] Nikola, a U.S. hydrogen electric truck company embroiled in a 'fraud controversy,' has decided to halt its collaboration with Arizona-based waste collection and recycling company 'Republic Services (Republic)' on the development of garbage trucks, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on the 23rd (local time).

As a result of this move, Republic's order for garbage trucks will also be terminated.

Previously, Republic had been collaborating with Nikola since August to develop 'zero-emission' trucks for waste collection and recycling. Accordingly, Republic had signed a purchase contract for 2,500 to 5,000 garbage trucks.

However, on this day, Nikola announced the suspension of the collaboration, stating, "The two companies confirmed that combining various new technologies and design concepts requires a longer development period and higher costs than expected."

Nikola, once hailed as the 'second Tesla' and riding high, has faced a series of setbacks since short-seller Hindenburg Research released a report alleging fraud by Nikola at the end of September.

Following the report controversy, Nikola's stock price plummeted, and founder Trevor Milton resigned from his position as chairman of the board.

On the 30th of last month, automobile company General Motors (GM) canceled its plan to acquire an 11% stake in Nikola and jointly develop pickup trucks, significantly scaling back the partnership agreement to only provide battery systems and fuel cell technology to Nikola.

Meanwhile, amid these developments, Nikola announced on the same day that it will begin delivering its semi-truck 'Tre' to customers in the U.S. starting next year and will commence construction of its first commercial hydrogen fuel station.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.