Recently, Nikola Corporation held an event to celebrate that it had started production of its Tre BEV (battery-electric vehicle) at its plant in Coolidge, Arizona. The first phase of the manufacturing plant will allow Nikola to produce up to 2,500 of its commercial trucks per year. In contrast, Phase 2 will expand this to 20,000 trucks annually. The company hopes to have phase two completed at some point in 2023.
Arizona Governor Doug Ducey attended the event and said Nikola is “clearly in the driver’s seat of the future of transportation and commerce” and “has become a driving force in Arizona’s rapidly expanding electric vehicle industry.” He then thanked Nikola and various legislative bodies for “supporting this phenomenal project.”
The Arizona Commerce Authority’s President and Chief Executive Officer, Sandra Watson, referenced Arizona’s “world-class universities and community colleges,” which she said have “some of the best engineering and manufacturing talent in the country.” She also referred to Nikola as one of the top employers in the area. She said it is “attracting top tier suppliers to further grow Arizona’s robust electric vehicle supply chain.”
Nikola’s Chief Executive Officer, Mark Russell, said the company also has ambitious plans for the coming years. This includes fuel-cell electric vehicles, which Russell says will be “added to the manufacturing mix” next year. Ultimately, he said the company is “focused on delivering vehicles and generating revenue.”
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