GM SWITCHED ON WITH BIG ELECTRIC DEAL NUMBER 2

GENERAL Motors formed its second major electric vehicle partnership in less than a week, this time a $2 billion (R33.36bn) deal with start-up Nikola. GM will take an 11 percent ownership stake in the Phoenix company and will engineer and build Nikola’s Badger hydrogen fuel cell and electric pick-up truck. The Badger is expected to be in production by the end of 2022. GM also will help with cost reductions for Nikola’s other vehicles, including heavy trucks, and the company will use GM’s battery system and hydrogen fuel technology. In exchange, GM will get $2bn worth of Nikola’s newly-issued common stock. It’s the second major partnership announced by GM this month as it lines up companies to share in the costs of developing electric and autonomous vehicle technology. On Thursday, GM said it would join with Japanese carmaker Honda to share the costs of building vehicles powered by batteries and internal combustion engines. GM also will supply batteries for other Nikola vehicles, including heavy trucks. GM will get a $2bn equity stake in the start-up and expects to get more than $4bn in benefits from the deal including manufacturing the Badger, supply contracts for batteries and fuel cells and electric vehicle credits. Nikola expects to save more than $4bn in battery and power train costs over 10 years. “We are growing our presence in multiple highvolume electric vehicle segments, while building scale to lower battery and fuel cell costs and increase profitability,” GM chief executive Mary Barra said. Nikola shares leaped more than 32 percent to $46.95 in trading before yesterday’s opening bell. GM shares were up nearly 6 percent to $31.79.