Chapter 444
I arranged to meet someone at the company.
His name is Allen Eberhardt. He is the CEO of Nikola.
The history of Nikola is synonymous with the history of electric cars. When traditional car manufacturers were passive about electric vehicles, Nikola created and introduced the highly efficient electric car Model P to the market, which attracted the interest of investors.
Having successfully targeted the high-end market with a high-tech product, Nikola used the funds it earned to expand its factories and launched the Model TM in the $30,000 range, officially opening the electric car market.
At this point, CarOS emerged as a competitor. Until then, investors and experts predicted that it would be difficult for CarOS to beat Nikola.
However, the situation changed with the development of the OTK battery. The OTK battery significantly improved the capacity and charging speed of existing NCM batteries, completely changing the paradigm of electric cars.
GM and Ford joined the CarOS camp, but Nikola still insisted on surviving on its own.
This was because its flagship models were already tailored to existing batteries, and it was procuring its own batteries through the Gigaplant, a joint venture with Technics.
Moreover, as it happened, the Gigaplant had hedged on cobalt to ensure a stable supply of raw materials. They had signed a contract to purchase a certain quantity of cobalt at a fixed price for the next five years, regardless of price fluctuations.