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Tesla Semi rival Nikola targets $1B financing round amid $380M worth of new truck orders

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7 years ago

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As the company prepares to unveil working prototypes of its hydrogen-electric trucks next year, trucking startup Nikola Motor has announced that it recently completed an “oversubscribed” Series C funding round, which began last August. In a statement on Twitter, the company noted that it had received an additional $105 million from investors, bringing the total Series C funding round financing to over $205 million.

Nikola CEO and founder Trevor Milton noted in a statement to trucking publication Freightwaves that the company’s initial goal for its Series C funding round was $150 million. Inasmuch as its recent financing round was successful, though, Milton stated that the startup’s target next year would be even bigger — a $1 billion round that would likely start in the first quarter of 2019.

“It’s primarily for prepping the truck for full production. We’re going to start a $1B round in the first quarter of next year. It usually takes around 4-5 months to complete a round that big and that will go to the factory and everything else,” Milton said.

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Nikola expects to break ground for its Arizona-based factory sometime next year. Milton notes that the facility would be tasked with manufacturing the company’s Nikola One sleeper and Nikola Two daycab once the vehicles are ready to enter production. Over the next six years, the trucking startup expects to spend about $6 billion to develop the facility. The $1 billion funding round for 2019 is expected to allow the company to deploy working units of its vehicles on US roads.

“The year 2019 is going to be a pretty amazing year because you are going to see all the products out on the road. The biggest criticism is when are you going to have trucks on the road? We’re really trying to help the industry, and you can’t do that if the truck can’t pull a load,” Milton said.

With its Series C funding completed, Nikola is now dedicating its efforts to its upcoming Nikola World 2019 exhibition, which is set to unveil a working prototype of the Nikola Two. A sample unit of the Nikola Tre, a new truck the company announced for the European and Australian markets, would also be available in the event.

The Tesla Semi and the Nikola One.

While Nikola’s vehicles boast excellent specs, the company would have to establish a network of hydrogen refueling stations across the United States and Europe for its trucks to become a viable alternative to diesel-powered trucks. That said, the company has stated that it would have hydrogen coverage in the US, Canada, Europe, and Australia by 2028. Within that timeframe, Nikola has announced that it would become America’s “largest energy consumer.” 

For now, though, Nikola Motor remains optimistic, announcing that the Tre, its truck for the European and Australian market, has received $380 million worth of orders within the first five days since it was announced. The company also plans to start building its hydrogen network in 2020.

The United States’ trucking industry is ripe for disruption. Thus, vehicles form upstart companies such as Nikola and trucks from established electric car makers such as Tesla would likely accelerate the transition of the long-haul industry into the zero-emissions era. Considering the progress of the companies so far, though, the Tesla Semi, which is currently undergoing testing and expected to “earnestly” begin production sometime in 2020, would likely be saturating the market by the time Nikola’s hydrogen-electric trucks start rolling off the production line.

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Simon is an experienced automotive reporter with a passion for electric cars and clean energy. Fascinated by the world envisioned by Elon Musk, he hopes to make it to Mars (at least as a tourist) someday. For stories or tips--or even to just say a simple hello--send a message to his email, simon@teslarati.com or his handle on X, @ResidentSponge.

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Elon Musk reveals Tesla’s next Robotaxi expansion in more ways than one

Tesla Robotaxi is growing in more ways than one. Tesla wants to expand and hopes to reach half the U.S. population by the end of the year.

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17 minutes ago

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July 24, 2025

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla CEO Elon Musk revealed the company’s plans for its next expansion of the Robotaxi in terms of both the geofence in Austin and the platform overall, as it looks to move to new areas outside of Texas.

Tesla launched the Robotaxi platform last month on June 22, and has since expanded both the pool of users and the area that the driverless Model Y vehicles can travel within.

The first expansion of the geofence caught the attention of nearly everyone and became a huge headline as Tesla picked a very interesting shape for the new geofence, resembling male reproductive parts.

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The next expansion will likely absolve this shape. Musk revealed last night that the new geofence will be “well in excess of what competitors are doing,” and it could happen “hopefully in a week or two.”

Musk’s full quote regarding the expansion of the geofence and the timing was:

“As some may have noted, we have already expanded our service area in Austin. It’s bigger and longer, and it’s going to get even bigger and longer. We are expecting to greatly increase the service area to well in excess of what competitors are doing, hopefully in a week or two.”

The expansion will not stop there, either. As Tesla has operated the Robotaxi platform in Austin for the past month, it has been working with regulators in other areas, like California, Arizona, Nevada, and Florida, to get the driverless ride-hailing system activated in more U.S. states.

Tesla confirmed that they are in talks with each of these states regarding the potential expansion of Robotaxi.

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Musk added:

“As we get the approvals and prove out safety, we will be launching the autonomous ride-hailing across most of the country. I think we will probably have autonomous ride-hailing in probably half the population of the US by the end of the year.”

We know that Tesla and Musk have been prone to aggressive and sometimes outlandish timelines regarding self-driving technology specifically. Regulatory approvals could happen by the end of the year in several areas, and working on these large metros is the best way to reach half of the U.S. population.

Tesla said its expansion of the geofence in Austin is conservative and controlled due to its obsession with safety, even admitting at one point during the Earnings Call that they are being “paranoid.” Expanding the geofence is necessary, but Tesla realizes any significant mistake by Robotaxi could take it back to square one.

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Tesla warns customers of incentive strategy on EVs as tax credit nears end

If you’re thinking of buying a Tesla, the time to order is now, the company claimed.

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2 hours ago

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July 24, 2025

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(Credit: Tesla)

Tesla has warned customers about its incentive strategy for qualifying electric vehicles, as the days of both the $7,500 EV tax credit for new EVs and the $4,000 credit for used EVs are coming to a close.

Both tax credits, which impact some of the vehicles in the Tesla lineup, are set to be eliminated at the end of Q3. The phase out of these consumer credits was always in the plans of the Trump Administration, but now we’re in the final quarter of their existence.

As a result, EV companies are scrambling to see how they can reduce costs or make their vehicles more affordable for customers. The $7,500 will price many consumers out of many EVs on the market, and Tesla is not immune to that.

However, Tesla has made a significant push into Q3 deliveries, rolling out numerous incentives to customers, including 0% APR on select purchases, lease deals, free upgrades on certain inventory units, and more.

The extensive list of incentives on Tesla vehicles in the quarter will not get any longer, either. During last night’s Tesla Earnings Call for the second quarter of 2025, company executives stated that their intention for these incentives was to encourage customers to place orders early in the quarter.

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Tesla will only be able to apply the $7,500 credit with deliveries that occur before the end of September. Even if an order is placed before then, delivery must be completed by September 31 to receive the tax credit.

CFO Vaibhav Taneja confirmed that the incentives for the quarter are already out and encouraged customers to place an order sooner rather than later:

“Given the abrupt change, we have a limited supply of vehicles in the US this quarter. As we are already within lead times to order parts for cars, we have rolled out all our planned incentives already and will start pairing them back as we start to sell. If you are in the US and looking to buy a car, let’s roll now as we may not be able to guarantee delivery for orders placed in the later part of August and beyond.”

The loss of the incentives will impact every EV maker in the United States. Tesla has a plan moving forward, and it said last night that its affordable models would be rolled out in Q4, as introducing these cars any earlier could have detrimental effects on Model 3 and Model Y sales.

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Tesla Model Y awarded Top Safety Pick+ from IIHS

The new Model Y continues to impress with this new award.

Published

4 hours ago

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July 24, 2025

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(Credit: Tesla)

The 2025 Tesla Model Y was one of two midsize luxury SUVs to receive the Top Safety Pick+ award from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS).

To qualify for the IIHS’s Top Safety Pick+ or even the lower-tier Top Safety Pick label, vehicles need good ratings in the small overlap front and side crash tests, an acceptable or good rating in the pedestrian front crash prevention evaluation, and acceptable or good ratings for headlights across all trim levels.

The difference between the two labels is that an “Acceptable” rating in the moderate overlap front test will get a car the Top Safety Pick rating, but a “Good” rating in this category will win the elusive Top Safety Pick+ category.

The 2025 Model Y, codenamed “Juniper” internally by Tesla, was released in the United States earlier this year and received the top rating across each of the categories, automatically qualifying it for the Top Safety Pick+ label:

Other vehicles in Tesla’s lineup have extraordinary marks in crash testing according to other agencies, like the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), but there are reasons those cars are not on the IIHS lists.

In 2024, we reported that the IIHS had evaluated some Tesla vehicles for the necessary tests to achieve these marks. Joe Young of the agency told us that the Model 3, for example, was not featured on either the Top Safety Pick or Top Safety Pick+ lists because the vehicle had several missing tests.

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Here’s why the Tesla Model 3 wasn’t an IIHS Top Safety Pick+, and why it could be soon

This is not to say those other Tesla vehicles would not perform well. The Cybertruck performed better than any pickup has ever in NHTSA crash testing assessments.

The Model Y is Tesla’s most popular vehicle and was the best-selling car in the world over the past two years. Tesla’s intense focus on safety continues to show that this priority goes into every decision the company makes regarding design and engineering. This focus has continued to pay dividends as some real-world crashes save the lives of those inside the cars.

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