Tesla Rival Nikola Motors Recalls All Battery-Powered Electric Trucks, Halts Sales Amid

Nikola Motors has issued a recall for almost all of the battery-powered trucks it has delivered after a fire in one truck took place in June.

The recall covers about 60 percent of the battery-electric heavy-duty trucks the company has made in the past year, but almost all of those actually shipped to dealers or commercial truckers, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The company has also halted all shipments of the trucks.

Nikola shares fall after EV maker recalls all of its battery-electric semitrucks following a fire https://t.co/5RMJ3D8Wad pic.twitter.com/2zoS7rhgVk

— CNBC International (@CNBCi) August 14, 2023

“Following an August 10 presentation of preliminary findings from Exponent, a reputable third-party investigator, a coolant leak inside a single battery pack was found to be the probable cause of the truck fire at the company’s headquarters in Phoenix, Ariz. on June 23, 2023,” the company said in a statement issued Friday.

“The findings were further corroborated by a minor thermal incident that impacted one pack on an engineering validation truck parked at the company’s Coolidge, Ariz. plant on Aug. 10. No one was injured in either incident,” the statement said.

The statement said that “a single supplier component within the battery pack as the likely source of the coolant leak and efforts are underway to provide a field remedy in the coming weeks.”

The company initially had blamed the June fire on foul play “based on video footage showing a vehicle parked next to the impacted trucks and quickly pulling away after a bright flash and the commencement of the fire,” the statement said.

“Extensive internal and third party-led hypothesis testing, employee and contractor interviews, and hours of video footage review has since suggested foul play or other external factors were unlikely to have caused the incident,” the statement said.

The statement said that “only two (2) battery packs have experienced a thermal event, out of more than 3,100 packs on trucks produced to date (less than 0.07%).”

Nikola: Coolant leak likely cause of electric semi-truck fire at Phoenix HQ, issues recallhttps://t.co/mwBYTZLHGd pic.twitter.com/QKVloMitYE

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Earlier this month, Nikola named Stephen Girsky, a former General Motors executive, as its fourth CEO in four years.

The company also expressed “substantial doubts” over its ability to keep going over the next 12 months,  citing “critical” need for additional capital, according to Reuters.

Nikola Corporation recalls over 200 vehicles, leading to a drop in share prices. #NKLA #StockMarket pic.twitter.com/U6PpBJePEr

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EV fires pose substantial risks, according to Guang Xu, associate professor of mining engineering at Missouri University of Science and Technology.

“EV battery fires start with an uncontrolled chemical reaction inside the battery that releases a huge amount of heat and continues until the reaction has completed,” he said.

“Also, a chemical fire releases more toxic gases than a gasoline- or diesel-powered vehicle fire,” he said.