Batteries represent a huge portion of the overall cost of electric vehicles (EVs) and are pivotal to performance, safety and customer acceptance. The more stable and secure an automaker’s battery supply, the better. That’s why some players are moving to bring battery expertise in-house. BYD, Tesla and Great Wall have led the way on this front by fully integrating battery production. Others have started along that journey: Volkswagen, Daimler and General Motors are just some of the incumbents to have made hefty investments in the area. Now it’s Nikola Motors’ turn.
On 1 August, Nikola announced a definitive agreement to acquire one of its current lithium-ion battery suppliers, Romeo Power. The battery specialist was founded in 2016 by a group of former engineers from big name players like Tesla, SpaceX, Apple, Samsung and Amazon. It went public last year through a merger with investment firm RMG Acquisition.
“Batteries are constantly changing and improving,” Nikola Chief Executive Mark Russell told media and analysts in a call following the acquisition announcement.
