Dustup with Nikola
Lightning initially purchased batteries for its products from startup Romeo Power. When financially ailing Romeo — itself a SPAC-backed startup — was acquired by electric truck maker Nikola Corp. last August, Lightning’s battery supply dried up.
Nikola determined it would keep Romeo’s minuscule output for itself, spawning lawsuits from Lion Electric Co. and Lightning. Nikola has since moved the Romeo battery production in-house even as it pivots from battery-electric trucks to focus on fuel cell models that require fewer batteries.
“They vandalized us,” Reeser said. “It’s painful because from my perspective, it was a fixable problem. Nikola said in their last earnings report that they’re looking at everything, including potentially bankrupting Romeo, so we don’t know what’s going to happen.”
Nikola declined to comment on the Lightning lawsuit.
“We are evaluating a potential restructuring of Romeo,” Nikola said in its first-quarter 10-K filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. “This restructuring may include the sale, license, transfer, or other disposition of some or all of Romeo’s assets, and may include [a bankruptcy filing].”
