Amid bankruptcy rumors, Nikola sells off battery assets to Mullen

Nikola Corporation sold Mullen Automotive more of its battery production assets, including a standard battery chemistry production line and a vibration table for in-house laboratory testing. This adds to Mullen’s 2023 $3.5 million purchase from the company, which included production assets from Nikola’s subsidiary Romeo Power such as equipment, inventory, and intellectual property for EV battery pack and module production.

Reportedly, the California-based EV manufacturer went through with the purchase to help move its production work to the U.S., with Mullen putting their new equipment to work at their battery facility in Fullerton, California.

“We continue to execute our plan of transitioning to American-made battery components and we are doing it right here in Southern California,” said David Michery, CEO and chairman of Mullen Automotive.

This sale comes as uncertainty regarding Nikola’s future has grown. In 2023, two Nikola Tre BEVs (battery-electric vehicles) caught fire due to the battery packs from Romeo Power, leading to the recall of 209 of the trucks. The recall, paired with the appointment of then-new Nikola CEO Steve Girsky, led to the company switching their focus to their hydrogen fuel-cell vehicle product line.

Since then, Nikola laid off roughly 15% of its workforce in October 2024, and CFO Tom Okray said the OEM finished Q3 with $198 million, enough to work through Q1 2025, but not beyond that timeframe. Later that year, Nikola held another round of layoffs, and on Dec. 9, the company filed a Material Definitive Agreement stating that it “may sell shares of its common stock,” explore strategic partnerships, and “issu[e] equity or debt securities […] licensing arrangements or obtaining credit from government or financial institutions” to avoid bankruptcy.

In late January 2025, Nikola’s head of battery operations and the country chief of Canada departed the company.

While Nikola has not set a date for its Q4 and full-year 2024 earnings, it told the Business Journal that the company had been “relentlessly working to raise capital, reduce our liabilities, preserve cash, and provide excellent service for our customers,” but that it was “evaluating options for its business.”