Nikola cuts workforce, slows production of loss-making electric trucks

Electric truck maker Nikola Corp. is laying off 7% of its workforce — and 100 employees — and slowing production of its battery-electric trucks because the more it makes, the more money the company loses.

In a news-filled, third-quarter earnings report on Thursday, Nikola also said it is revising an executive compensation plan that could have made multimillionaires of top leaders if certain share price thresholds were met…

Economic headwinds, rising inflation and borrowing costs, and unforeseen costs associated with purchasing troubled battery pack supplier Romeo Technology led Nikola to pull guidance on production for Q4 and 2023…

Nikola also indefinitely delayed construction on the third phase of its $600 million plant in Coolidge, Arizona.

The company remains on track to deliver hydrogen fuel cell-powered electric trucks in the second half of 2023 and finish the second phase of the Coolidge plant, which would allow it to build 20,000 Class 8 trucks a year.