Shocking news out of Phoenix Friday morning as a fire damaged multiple battery electric trucks at Nikola Motors (NKLA) headquarters — and the company says "foul play" is suspected.
Via its official Twitter account, Nikola said a vehicle was seen in the area of the affected trucks prior to the incident, and official investigation is underway. Nikola also said no one was injured in the fire.
The Phoenix Fire department’s official Twitter account posted video of the aftermath of the fires, showing crews and hazardous materials teams extinguishing the flames. According to Bloomberg, the fire department found four trucks on fire and required 50 firefighters to contain the fire. The fire department has not determined whether the fire may have been deliberately set.
Friday’s fire is the latest piece of tough news for Nikola, following on the heels of last week’s disclosure that the company would lay off around 270 workers. That followed Nikola's May announcement that it was selling its stake in a European manufacturing joint venture with trucking giant Iveco Group, with Iveco remaining a "key supplier” for Nikola.
Last month in an interview with Yahoo Finance, CEO Michael Lohscheller said the company was forecasting production of "between 375 and 500 trucks" for the year, however it’s possible Friday’s incident at headquarters may have an impact on that guidance.
Nikola said in its first quarter financial report that it produced 63 Tre battery electric trucks and delivered 31 to dealers. Nikola reported an uptick in retail sales with 33 in the quarter, and plans to temporarily pause production at its Coolidge, Arizona, plant in order to modify the assembly line to accommodate both hydrogen fuel cell and battery electric assembly. The company is also leaning more towards boosting production of its hydrogen fuel cell trucks, and assembling battery electric models on a “build-to-order” basis.
A Nikola spokesperson said on Friday the company had no further comment about the fire, and that more information will be provided once available.
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Pras Subramanian is a reporter for Yahoo Finance. You can follow him on Twitter and on Instagram.
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