Nikola Badger may not be built

The Nikola Badger electrified pick-up truck that was destined to go on sale in Australia may now not even be destined for production.

Revealed with much fanfare by Nikola Motors as a concept last February, the US EV start-up has now confirmed it will not be built if a proposed technology-sharing and production partnership with General Motors falls through.

Nikola CEO Mark Russell made that explicitly clear during a recent interview with Bloomberg News.

“The Badger is part of our discussions with GM. And we’ve been clear all along that we wouldn’t build a Badger without an OEM partner,” Russell told Bloomberg News.

The Badger is one of a rush of electrified pick-ups planned for launch in the US, including the Tesla Cybertruck, GMC Hummer EV, Ford F-150, Rivian R1T and others.

But it stood out because Nikola proposed it would be offered as both a battery-electric vehicle and BEV/hydrogen fuel-cell hybrid offering up to 965km range.

Nikola and GM announced their intention to work together back in September and a key part of the deal was the auto giant building the Badger.

But a report by the short-seller Hindenburg Research released just days later cast doubt on the deal.

Hindenburg accused Nikola of deception, fraud and misleading investors. Despite vowing to defend his company against the allegations, Nikola founder and chairman Trevor Milton resigned soon after.

Nikola, which was valued at $US73 billion ($A103bn) in the days after its June reverse-merger float on the New York stock exchange, has plummeted in value to just $US7.85 billion ($A11bn).

As a result GM is renegotiating its deal with Nikola that was for 11 per cent of the company then worth $US2 billion ($A2.8bn). US reports say GM could push to raise its stake in Nikola or seek warrants to guarantee or increase its equity if the company raises more money.

The two parties have until December 3 to decide if they will consummate the deal or go their separate ways.

If the agreement collapses, Russell says the company will focus on its heavy trucks and hydrogen infrastructure rollout. He struck a defiant tone about Nikola’s future if it did have to stand alone.

“We have the ability and we have a base plan of doing it ourselves,” he said.

“If we have a partner, that just enables us to consider going faster and helps reduce the risk.

“We’ve proven that over the years that we are a partnership company when those things are available to us.”

The status of Nikola negotiations with energy giant BP to set up a chain of hydrogen refuelling stations across America remain unclear, as do plans to build a battery-electric semi in Ulm, Germany, starting in 2021.

Longer term it intends to build hydrogen trucks at its own plant in Coolidge, Arizona.