Lucid buys Nikola factory at an auction
Lucid, known for its luxury electric saloon called Lucid Air, emerged as the surprising winner of the auction – it had not previously been rumoured that the Californian company was interested in Nikola’s facilities and assets. A few days ago, it was reported that Nikola founder Trevor Milton, who had been sentenced to prison for fraud, was pardoned by US President Donald Trump and now wanted to bid on Nikola’s assets himself. However, Milton walked away empty-handed.
But what does Lucid intend to do with the Nikola sites in Arizona? At first glance at least, the commitment there is not exactly logical, because Lucid focuses on battery-electric cars, whereas Nikola had built heavy trucks – in the past battery-electric ones, but most recently mainly with fuel cells.
First and foremost, Lucid emphasises that the transaction does not include the acquisition of Nikola’s business, customer base or hydrogen fuel cell electric truck technology. “As we continue our production ramp of Lucid Gravity and prepare for our upcoming midsize platform vehicles, acquiring these assets is an opportunity to strategically expand our manufacturing, warehousing, testing, and development facilities while supporting our local Arizona community,” said Marc Winterhoff, new Interim CEO at Lucid.
Nikola’s state-of-the-art manufacturing and warehouse buildings will accommodate Lucid’s ‘prior planned expansion in Arizona,’ the company said in a press release. The auctioned facilities also include development equipment with extensive battery and environmental test chambers, a full-size chassis dynamometer, machining equipment and much more.
The now-acquired Nikola plant in the small town of Coolidge is only around 30 kilometres away from the Lucid plant in Casa Grande. Nikola’s current headquarters in Phoenix, where research and development is also located, is also not far from either factory. The sites will be dovetailed accordingly.
300 employees to be taken on
In addition, Lucid plans to offer more than 300 former Nikola employees new jobs at the Arizona facilities. These offers include various salaried and hourly technical positions in areas including manufacturing engineering, software, assembly, vehicle testing, and warehouse support. Lucid welcomes employees with a strong background in EV technology and wants to further support the local Arizona community, the company said. “We are delighted to extend employment offers to more than 300 former employees, who bring valuable industry experience, and together with our outstanding teams, will continue powering Lucid’s industry-leading innovation,” said Winterhoff.
Local politicians support Lucid taking over Nikola facilities, and Lucid’s press release includes a statement by Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs: “Today’s announcement is fantastic news for Arizona workers and our state’s growing EV and battery manufacturing industry. Arizona is the proud home of Lucid’s advanced EV manufacturing lines – and this acquisition promises to strengthen Lucid’s operations while offering continued employment to hundreds of skilled workers in our state.”
Founded in 2014, electric truck manufacturer Nikola had long been in trouble and is said to have recently been losing around $200 million per quarter. On 19 February 2025, the company then filed for bankruptcy protection – and also announced that it had given up hope of a turnaround. Accordingly, an auction and sale process was immediately initiated.
0 Comments