Nikola Delivers Hydrogen Fuel Cell Electric Semi-Truck To Walmart Canada

Walmart Canada has added a hydrogen fuel cell-powered electric semi-truck from Nikola Corp. NKLA to its fleet, making it the first major retailer in the country to do so, the EV truck maker said on Thursday.

What Happened: The new truck will be deployed in Ontario for longer-haul trips, the company said.

"This is a first for a retailer in Canada and is an example of how we will continue to push forward, embrace new technology and spark change within the industry," Walmart Canada CEO Gonzalo Gebara said about the latest addition to its fleet.

Competition From Tesla: EV giant Tesla launched its semi-truck in 2017 and delivered a few to PepsiCo Inc. in December 2022. A PepsiCo spokesperson told Benzinga in January that the company has a total of 36 Tesla Semis deployed in its fleet, some of which are based out of Frito-Lay's Modesto facility in California.

Tesla started delivering 50 more semi trucks to PepsiCo in May, expanding the total number of Semis in the beverage maker’s fleet to 86 units.

The Tesla Semi is still in pilot production at Tesla's gigafactory in Nevada. The company is currently building a high-volume Semi factory at Giga Nevada with the first vehicles planned for late 2025 after finalizing the vehicle’s engineering with learnings from the company’s pilot fleet as well as PepsiCo’s fleet, Tesla executive Lars Moravy confirmed at the company's first-quarter earnings call last month.

Why It Matters: Nikola wholesaled 40 fuel cell trucks in the first quarter and produced 43 trucks. The company reported total revenue of $7.5 million in the quarter and a net loss of $147.7 million, down from the $169.1 million reported in the corresponding quarter last year.

Nikola initially began delivering battery electric trucks before its hydrogen fuel cell electric trucks. However, following a few fire incidents, the BEV trucks were subsequently recalled in August.

The company began the process of returning its recalled and reworked BEV trucks to customers in late March. In February, Nikola CEO Steve Girsky said that the company would restart BEV sales only once all the recalled vehicles were returned.

Check out more of Benzinga's Future Of Mobility coverage by following this link.

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Photo courtesy: Nikola