Nikola Corporation, a global leader in zero-emissions transportation and energy supply and infrastructure solutions, via the HYLA brand, today reported financial results and business updates for the quarter ended March 31, 2024
Nikola Corporation, a global leader in zero-emissions transportation and energy supply and infrastructure solutions, via the HYLA brand, today reported financial results and business updates for the quarter ended March 31, 2024.
“We continue to move forward rapidly and execute our plans. And please keep that in mind – we are in the execution phase, not the planning or concepting phase,” said Steve Girsky, President and CEO of Nikola. “Last quarter, I talked about getting on the field with the first deliveries of our hydrogen fuel cell electric trucks. Today, we are executing plays, competing, and cultivating more green shoots as we expand upon current markets and enter new ones.”
Hydrogen Fuel Cell Electric Truck
At the end of Q1, we exceeded the high-end of the guidance range by delivering 40 FCEVs, all designated for end fleets. That makes 75 wholesaled FCEVs in the first two quarters of serial production. We’re seeing green shoots with repeat and new fleets, some in new markets such as N.Y. While our initial focus has been Calif. and Canada, we can expand our reach to meet the demands of end fleet users virtually anywhere in the U.S.
Program-to-date, Nikola FCEVs have accumulated over 830,000 miles with an average fuel economy exceeding our target of 7.2 mi/kg. We’re doing what it takes to delight prospective and existing customers with the best possible experience.
Energy
Our HYLA team is executing its Hydrogen Highway Plan, and we remain on track. Previously we had committed to nine additional HYLA refueling stations in Calif. by year-end 2024. Now we are expecting to provide nine hydrogen fueling solutions by mid-year 2024 and 14 by year-end 2024. These solutions include modular fuelers and partner stations in Calif., Canada and our home station at our Coolidge, Ariz. manufacturing facility. We want to emphasize that building the hydrogen ecosystem requires industry wide collaboration for the benefit of all. We need partners and they come in different forms and stages of infrastructure development. The shared mission is to build an open ecosystem accessible to all.
Constructive Green Policies
We maintained our dominant market share of HVIP vouchers for Class 8 FCEVs, ending the quarter with 362 of 367 or 99% of the unredeemed vouchers that were requested in 2023 through March 2024. On the Class 8 BEV side, we ended Q1 with 85 unredeemed vouchers or 30% market share. While HVIP is only one program, we’re encouraged by the progress in constructive green policies. Two in particular, help us fund our business. CARB’s Heavy-Duty Omnibus Regulation allows us to monetize the NOx and particulate matter or PM credits we generate from selling zero-emissions trucks on a model year basis. We are pleased to confirm that Nikola has executed its first sale agreement for credits generated for Model Year 22 and revenue from this transaction will be recognized in Q2 2024. We expect future revenue from the sale of CARB credits to grow over time and be meaningful.
Battery-Electric Truck
Lastly, we completed the first delivery of a remediated BEV in Q1. We continue to prioritize returning BEVs to customers and dealers and now expect to complete remediation of these units by year-end 2024. Our ability to sell Nikola’s on-hand inventory, however, will be dependent upon future battery supply; we now expect to opportunistically sell on-hand inventory for revenue in 2025.
We’ve also taken this opportunity to “future proof” the BEV 2.0, as it now shares significant software commonality with the battery and operating systems on the FCEV, allowing customers to receive next-generation upgrades seamlessly over-the-air as they are deployed. We’ve kept our fleet users front and center as we’ve engineered over-the-air enhancements, including dynamic data gathering for predictive diagnostics, improved truck performance and field issue identification. We’ve also deployed new Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) features to effectively manage powertrain demand in aggressive route conditions such as mountainous driving.
First quarter financial highlights
SOURCE: Nikola