Tesla Competitor Nikola Motors Skyrockets 104% After Setting Reservation Date for its Electric Truck (NKLA, TSLA)
- Nikola Corp. soared 104% on Monday after setting a reservation date for its new electric truck, Badger.
- The zero-emissions vehicle manufacturer plans to open reservations for the Badger on June 29, according to a tweet from Trevor Milton, the founder and chairman of Nikola.
- Nikola Corp. went public through a reverse merger with VectoIQ Acquisition Corp. last week, and is one of the first pure-play electric-vehicle competitors to Tesla.
Tesla competitor Nikola Corp. skyrocketed as much as 104% on Monday after setting a June 29 reservation date for its new electric truck, the Badger.
Trevor Milton, founder and chairman of Nikola, detailed in a tweet on Monday plans to debut its Badger truck and open up reservations to consumers. Nikola Corp. was founded in 2016 and is focused on building electric and fuel cell powered trucks, including a pick-up truck and an 18-wheeler.
The company went public last week through a reverse merger with VectoIQ Acquisition Corp. Since announcing its planned reverse merger with VectoIQ on March 3, shares are up as much as 612%.
The company said it has upward of $10 billion in potential revenue from pre-orders, and it expects to start generating revenue in 2021.
The company differs from Tesla in that its electric trucks run will run on hydrogen fuel cells. Instead of building out a network of electric vehicle chargers like Tesla, Nikola plans to build infrastructure to support a network of hydrogen fuel refill stations across the country.
One potential benefit of hydrogen fuel cells is a quick refuel time akin to filling up a gas tank with gasoline, rather than having to wait upward of an hour to get a decent charge from a high-powered electric-vehicle charging station.
Tesla joined Nikola in closing at all-time highs on Monday, with shares of Tesla up on optimism around its Chinese business.
Nikola shares traded to a high of $73.70 Monday afternoon, representing a one-day gain of 103.7%.
