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Tesla Semi competitor Nikola opens new headquarters, public tours to follow
Tesla Semi competitor Nikola Motors has opened its new headquarters in Phoenix, Arizona, according to CEO Trevor Milton. The facility will house the company’s design, research and development teams.
“Nikola HQ is awesome. Just opened last week,” Milton announced via Twitter alongside a photo of what appears to be a lobby inside the building. Most of the company’s product line was pictured, to include the Nikola One and Nikola Tre hydrogen-electric semi trucks, the all-electric Nikola NZT off-road vehicle, and the Nikola WAV sit-down electric watercraft. Only the Nikola Two, the day cab variant of their hydrogen-electric semi truck unveiled in April with the WAV and NZT, was missing from the image. Milton also suggested that tours of the headquarters may be open to the public as soon as August.
Earlier this year, Nikola released details surrounding a deal made with Saint Holdings, LLC for 400 acres in Pinal County, Arizona where the company will build its manufacturing facility. The location is inside Heritage, an 11,438-acre prime development area, within the Inland Port Arizona portion of the site, itself comprising 3,000 acres and dubbed a “manufacturing mega site.” Nikola’s presence in the area is expected to bring an estimated $1 billion in economic stimulus to the region by 2024.
https://twitter.com/nikolatrevor/status/1140751941846237184
Nikola’s latest product unveilings took place in Scottsdale at Nikola World 2019, a two-day event featuring a presentation, breakout sessions, track demos, and vehicle tours. In the weeks since, Milton and his team have continued to promote their products and mission via trade show appearances and interviews. One of the notable topics discussed during that time was Nikola’s commitment to hydrogen as a fuel source while acknowledging the advantages of fully-electric trucking systems for short-haul tasks.
“Around long-haul, you have more advantage on the hydrogen side because it’s lighter. It’s all about freight weight, or how much it costs to move a freight-ton per mile. There’s advantages to both infrastructures, but we’re mainly focused on the hydrogen side. We just offer battery-electric so we can tell people we’ll shoot you straight. There are areas where hydrogen does not make sense,” Milton said during an interview with Trucks.com. “The battery alone in an electric truck is going to cost $200,000. We’re shooting for an internal cost of $150,000 for our entire Nikola truck. Our truck also weighs less than the batteries in an electric truck. Now, electric is going to kick our butt in short-haul because it’s a really good solution, but electric trucks are not one size fits all.”
https://twitter.com/nikolatrevor/status/1140754280116183041
As part of Nikola’s commitment to hydrogen power, the trucking startup also announced a $14 million dollar fuel cell lab investment at the end of March this year, with several hundred dollars planned overall. The laboratory represents a critical component in the company’s plan to provide high-quality, high-efficiency fuel cell technology at a pace quick enough to meet the needs of the trucking industry as it drives towards an alternative-power future. Nikola plans to centralize the development, validation, and testing of its entire fuel cell system in one place, reducing the time required to meet its mission milestones.
Nikola will break ground on its main manufacturing facility later this year in Coolidge. Initial production is estimated to be 35,000 semi trucks annually and grow to an eventual 50,000 built per year. In the interim, Fitzgerald Glider Kits is producing the Class 8 long haulers with full production planned for 2022-2023.
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Armored Tesla Cybertruck “War Machine” debuts at Defense Expo 2025
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Tesla Megapacks chosen for 548 MWh energy storage project in Japan
Tesla plans to supply over 100 Megapack units to support a large stationary storage project in Japan, making it one of the country’s largest energy storage facilities.
Tesla’s Megapack grid-scale batteries have been selected to back an energy storage project in Japan, coming as the latest of the company’s continued deployment of the hardware.
As detailed in a report from Nikkei this week, Tesla plans to supply 142 Megapack units to support a 548 MWh storage project in Japan, set to become one of the country’s largest energy storage facilities. The project is being overseen by financial firm Orix, and it will be located at a facility Maibara in central Japan’s Shiga prefecture, and it aims to come online in early 2027.
The deal is just the latest of several Megapack deployments over the past few years, as the company continues to ramp production of the units. Tesla currently produces the Megapack at a facility in Lathrop, California, though the company also recently completed construction on its second so-called “Megafactory” in Shanghai China and is expected to begin production in the coming weeks.
READ MORE ON TESLA MEGAPACKS: Tesla Megapacks help power battery supplier Panasonic’s Kyoto test site
Tesla’s production of the Megapack has been ramping up at the Lathrop facility since initially opening in 2022, and both this site and the Shanghai Megafactory are aiming to eventually reach a volume production of 10,000 Megapack units per year. The company surpassed its 10,000th Megapack unit produced at Lathrop in November.
During Tesla’s Q4 earnings call last week, CEO Elon Musk also said that the company is looking to construct a third Megafactory, though he did not disclose where.
Last year, Tesla Energy also had record deployments of its Megapack and Powerwall home batteries with a total of 31.4 GWh of energy products deployed for a 114-percent increase from 2023.
Other recently deployed or announced Megapack projects include a massive 600 MW/1,600 MWh facility in Melbourne, a 75 MW/300 MWh energy storage site in Belgium, and a 228 MW/912 MWh storage project in Chile, along with many others still.
What are your thoughts? Let me know at zach@teslarati.com, find me on X at @zacharyvisconti, or send us tips at tips@teslarati.com.
Tesla highlights the Megapack site replacing Hawaii’s last coal plant
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Elon Musk responds to Ontario canceling $100M Starlink deal amid tariff drama
Ontario Premier Doug Ford said, opens new tab on February 3 that he was “ripping up” his province’s CA$100 million agreement with Starlink in response to the U.S. imposing tariffs on Canadian goods.
Elon Musk company SpaceX is set to lose a $100 million deal with the Canadian province of Ontario following a response to the Trump administration’s decision to apply 25 percent tariffs to the country.
Starlink, a satellite-based internet service launched by the Musk entity SpaceX, will lose a $100 million deal it had with Ontario, Premier Doug Ford announced today.
Starting today and until U.S. tariffs are removed, Ontario is banning American companies from provincial contracts.
Every year, the Ontario government and its agencies spend $30 billion on procurement, alongside our $200 billion plan to build Ontario. U.S.-based businesses will…
— Doug Ford (@fordnation) February 3, 2025
Ford said on X today that Ontario is banning American companies from provincial contracts:
“We’ll be ripping up the province’s contract with Starlink. Ontario won’t do business with people hellbent on destroying our economy. Canada didn’t start this fight with the U.S., but you better believe we’re ready to win it.”
It is a blow to the citizens of the province more than anything, as the Starlink internet constellation has provided people in rural areas across the globe stable and reliable access for several years.
Musk responded in simple terms, stating, “Oh well.”
Oh well https://t.co/1jpMu55T6s
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 3, 2025
It seems Musk is less than enthused about the fact that Starlink is being eliminated from the province, but it does not seem like all that big of a blow either.
As previously mentioned, this impacts citizens more than Starlink itself, which has established itself as a main player in reliable internet access. Starlink has signed several contracts with various airlines and maritime companies.
It is also expanding to new territories across the globe on an almost daily basis.
With Mexico already working to avoid the tariff situation with the United States, it will be interesting to see if Canada does the same.
The two have shared a pleasant relationship, but President Trump is putting his foot down in terms of what comes across the border, which could impact Americans in the short term.
Armored Tesla Cybertruck “War Machine” debuts at Defense Expo 2025
Tesla Megapacks chosen for 548 MWh energy storage project in Japan
