Here's what you need to know:
- Nikola Motors has officially ceased to exist following its bankruptcy earlier in the year.
- Over $114 million worth of unsold hydrogen trucks and related components (like batteries, fuel cell modules, and more) are being auctioned by Gordon Brothers.
- Lucid Motors bought Nikola’s Ariz. production facility in April and hired 300 former Nikola employees.
Nikola Motors is officially no more following its bankruptcy earlier this year.
[Related: Nikola Motors, once a Wall Street darling, files for bankruptcy]
And now its unsold hydrogen trucks and other related materials are hitting the auction block with a value in excess of $114 million.
A week ago, Gordon Brothers auction house struck a deal with Nikola in a Delaware bankruptcy court to purchase the trucks and has since released the listing and a brochure detailing everything for sale.
A total of 103 completed Class 8 hydrogen fuel cell (FCEV) trucks are for sale, as well as items like hydrogen fuel cell stack modules, batteries, tires, axles, steering & braking components, and DC converters.
For sale: Bosch electric powertrain system Gordon Brothers
But the question is who'll want to buy these vehicles and hardware given that there's no nationwide refueling infrastructure and a Trump administration unfriendly to hydrogen fueling. Another consideration is the price of hydrogen fuel itself, which is currently running as high as $35/kg. The national average price of traditional diesel fuel, to compare, is around $1.04/kg, according to AAA's latest data.
Also available are the contents of an advanced hydrogen testing storage facility, valued at over $7 million.
What could be of special interest to hydrogen fuel suppliers, like FirstElement, is Nikola's hydrogen fueling subsidiary, HYLA. Several of these components are brand new, having never been used.
Hydrogen fuel suppliers could be interested in hydrogen transport trailers.Gordon Brothers
The auction items are currently sitting in Nikola's former production facility in Coolidge Ariz. and its nearby corporate Phoenix headquarters as well as Calif. and Canada.
The factory itself was purchased in April by luxury EV passenger vehicle company Lucid, which also hired 300 Nikola employees.
[Related: Lucid wins Nikola bankruptcy auction, buys factory and assets]
Aside from hydrogen fuel sellers, fleets currently running Nikola Tre FCEVs are highly likely to be interested in acquiring critical spare parts; this auction could be a golden opportunity that may never come again.
