Lucid to Take Over Nikola’s Arizona Electric Truck Plant, HQ
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Automaker Lucid Group bought Nikola’s headquarters in Phoenix and its manufacturing facility in Coolidge, Ariz., after an April 7 auction of the bankrupt truck maker’s assets, it said April 11.
Court documents show Lucid will pay $30 million for the 691,000-square-foot retooled manufacturing plant and offices after multiple auction rounds.
The Coolidge facility initially assembled Nikola’s Class 8 battery-electric Tre semi before a retooling in May 2023 to begin production of the company’s hydrogen fuel cell electric Tre tractors in July 2023.
Lucid already has a factory in Casa Grande, Ariz.
“Acquiring these assets is an opportunity to strategically expand our manufacturing, warehousing, testing and development facilities while supporting our local Arizona community,” said Lucid Interim CEO Marc Winterhoff.
Lucid also said April 11 it plans to offer jobs to more than 300 former Nikola employees across manufacturing engineering, software, assembly, vehicle testing and warehouse support roles.
In the auction, Nikola also sold its 20% equity interest in Wabash Valley Resources Holdings to Midwest Infrastructure Partners for $1 million.
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Nikola received 2 cents on the dollar on its original $50 million investment in 2021 in what was originally a clean hydrogen from solid waste byproducts and biomass project in West Terre Haute, Ind. Those plans later transformed into a low-carbon ammonia fertilizer plant.
The auction also saw two bids for Nikola’s rights under a convertible promissory note issued by Wabash Valley Resources Holdings. Philipp Brothers Fertilizer bought the rights for $125,000.
No buyers, however, have as yet been found for the intellectual property rights to Nikola’s battery-electric and hydrogen fuel cell trucks, existing rolling stock or the Hyla hydrogen refueling business, according to court documents.
Sources tell Transport Topics, however, that negotiations continue on finding a new owner for the Hyla mobile refueling business.
The auction took place after plans for a stalking horse bid and pre-bankruptcy filing talks to find a buyer for the assets or the whole business foundered.
A stalking horse bid is an initial offer for assets, meaning it sets a bar other bidders cannot undercut.
According to court filings, an “international vehicle manufacturing company” walked away from buying the company in December, hoping for a better deal through the bankruptcy sale.
Subsequently, Nikola filed for court protection with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware on Feb. 19.
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“Like other companies in the electric vehicle industry, we have faced various market and macroeconomic factors that have impacted our ability to operate,” CEO Steve Girsky said in a statement accompanying the Chapter 11 filing.
“In recent months, we have taken numerous actions to raise capital, reduce our liabilities, clean up our balance sheet and preserve cash to sustain our operations. Unfortunately, our very best efforts have not been enough to overcome these significant challenges,” he added.
Girsky, Chief Financial Officer Tom Okray and their predecessors hunted for additional funding and partners for many months before the request for court protection, even as the truck maker shed as many costs as possible — with layoffs known to have taken place in November 2022, June 2023, October and December 2024.
What happens to fleets that bought Nikola trucks now the factory has been sold and no buyer for the company has materialized is unclear.
“Frankly, if Hyla stops operating … we’re screwed,” one source told TT in March as court deadlines to find bidders approached.
California fleets must keep their hydrogen fuel cell tractors operational to remain compliant with the state’s Hybrid and Zero-Emission Truck and Bus voucher program.
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Four California-based carriers — including 4Gen Logistics and IMC Logistics — held meetings to plan for all the possibilities, multiple sources told TT.
“The Nikola bankruptcy has injected some uncertainty into our zero-emissions program on the West Coast. We’re anxiously awaiting the final bids to understand our go forward position within the hydrogen fuel cell ecosystem,” Jim Gillis, IMC Pacific Region president, told TT in an email after the results of the auction were announced.
“Nikola developed a solid product, which we’ve used for the last year (putting more than a million zero-emissions miles behind us). We’re hopeful to continue that program and potentially accelerate it in the coming years,” he added.
Collierville, Tenn.-based IMC operates 50 Nikola hydrogen fuel cell tractors in Southern California, which is understood to be the largest U.S. deployment of hydrogen fuel cell tractors.
IMC ranks No. 5 on the TT sector list of largest drayage carriers in North America.
A spokeswoman for another Nikola customer, DHL Supply Chain, told TT: “We continue to work with our partners to determine next steps concerning FCEVs and will continue to work through multiple channels to realize our decarbonization goals.”
One of the few Nikola customers outside of California, DHL deployed two hydrogen fuel cell Tre tractors at Diageo North America’s Plainfield, Ill., campus.
DHL Supply Chain ranks No. 13 on the Transport Topics Top 100 list of the largest logistics companies in North America and No. 5 on the TT Top 50 global freight list.
Editor's note: This article was updated from the original April 16.
