Joseph White

DETROIT, (Reuters) – Supply-chain bottlenecks have temporarily reversed declines in the price of electric vehicles and are making clean trucks more expensive than diesel cars. This is according to Nikola Corp CEO.

Over the last ten years, battery cell prices have fallen every year. In an interview on Thursday broadcast by Reuters Next, Mark Russell, CEO of Nikola said that this year was the first time they have gone up.

Nikola, along with IVECO, its commercial truck partner have started assembling their first Tre BEV trucks. Russell stated that they still expect to start regular production in the first quarter 2022.

Russell stated that there is strong demand for fuel-cell and electric trucks. However, the key to widespread adoption of cleaner alternatives is battery and fuel cells vehicles being less expensive to run than traditional diesel trucks.

Russell explained that we are “very close to these lines crossing” if one considers the cost of ownership without any incentives. Inflation and bottlenecks in supply chain have hindered the convergence of fuel cell technology and diesel costs, Russell said. I believe it’s temporary.

Russell acknowledged that Nikola is still a losing startup and faces increasing competition from both established truck producers and other newcomers. Due to problems in its supply chain, the company lowered its financial outlook for 2018. For the year, volatile shares fell 33%

Russell stated, “It is really a bad time for the costs to go up.” Inflationary environments are very hard for everyone, especially those who manufacture parts with a lengthy lead time. We are also developing many parts entirely from scratch, which is especially true when it comes to manufacturing.

Russell stated that demand for commercial trucks is high, even if there are immediate cost pressures. He also noted that trucks emitting no carbon dioxide or other pollutants have a strong market.

Public corporations and other facilities with high carbon footprints like ports are subject to pressure to reduce their emission levels. The government is increasing the incentives for clean truck sales and tightening diesel emission controls that increase costs.

Russell indicated that he would welcome more trucks manufacturers and other energy companies to invest in clean cars and hydrogen refueling systems.

We are trying to displace and disrupt a network heavy commercial producers and a global network of energy supply. “It took that infrastructure a century to get there it is,” he stated. We can hopefully disrupt it and make it obsolete in less than 100 years. This will be a lengthy process that can take many many years. It will require the support of everyone out there.

To watch the Reuters Next conference please register here https://reutersevents.com/events/next/